A bottled water company is set to get the final go-ahead for its controversial plans to extend its factory into an area of community woodland this week.
North Yorkshire Council officers have recommended that councillors approve Harrogate Spring Water’s proposal to increase the size of its plant in the town’s Harlow Moor Road when they meet on Friday.
The committee previously deferred a decision on the expansion amid objections from campaign groups and local politicians over the loss of around 500 trees in Rotary Wood.
The committee said they needed to know the terms of a proposed section 106 agreement between the applicant and the council before making a decision, rather than leaving it for officers to decide after a decision had been taken.
Councillors also wanted more information on proposed measures to mitigate the loss of the trees, including plans for a new wet woodland near the bottling plant.
But officers say that the information provided by the applicant is sufficient and the expansion should be approved.
In a report to members, planning officer John Worthington says the principle of the development for the expansion was determined with an outline planning application approved in 2020.
He added:
“The matters for consideration under this application only relate to access, scale, layout, appearance and landscaping.
“The scale, access and layout comply with the parameters conditioned at outline stage and are considered to be acceptable.
“The proposed landscaping has been reviewed by officers and amended through the application process and is considered to be acceptable.
“The appearance has been altered through the application in response to officer comments and is also considered to be acceptable.”
But the recommendation has angered local councillors.
Green Party councillor for the Harlow and St George’s division, Mike Schofield, said:
“This application has become a masterclass on how not to run a planning process. The application was originally approved without an environmental screening opinion.
“Because that wasn’t done at the proper time, all the safeguards are out of sequence. The normal order is information and surveys, plans and then development. But they’ve put the cart before the horse and done plans before surveys – and somehow the council experts say that’s ok.
“And as for the Section 106, which is meant to offer protections – this is an utter betrayal of our community, our water and our woodland. It offers so much flexibility that it gives no guarantees – for access, for mitigation and for biodiversity net gain. What a sham.”
Ahead of the meeting, Harrogate Spring Water has outlined how the expansion could help more than half its suppliers double their contract revenue.
Ian Swann, operations director at Harrogate Spring Water, said:
“Harrogate Spring Water has a long history of working with suppliers based here in Yorkshire and across the North.
“The vast majority of what we use every day is already sourced regionally and our expansion plans would increase demand across our supply chain as part of normal operations, keeping more value in the local economy.
“The proposed expansion is currently subject to the planning process. The projected impacts outlined are based on Harrogate Spring Water’s current supply chain and highlight how increased production capacity would subsequently increase total spend on regional suppliers.”
Harrogate MP Tom Gordon has requested that the Government make a ruling on the application due to the controversy surrounding the plans.
But ministers said it should be decided by local councillors.
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