Council planning chiefs have rejected a call for key decisions on a bottled water company’s controversial plans to extend its Harrogate factory into an area of community woodland to be made by elected members.
Two Green Party councillors had asked for the planning committee rather than officers to decide on whether conditions had been met for Harrogate Spring Water to be given the go-ahead to increase the size of its plant in the town’s Harlow Moor Road.
Outline planning permission for the scheme was granted in 2017, but the detailed application was deferred by the committee in October because members felt they needed to know more information before making a decision.
Councillors Mike Schofield and Arnold Warneken wrote to North Yorkshire Council’s head of development management, Martin Grainger, and the chair of the planning committee, Chris Aldred, formally requesting that conditions still to be agreed were determined by the committee rather than under officers’ delegated powers.
Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Tom Gordon MP supported the call-in request.
Cllr Schofield said:
“Residents have made their feelings clear that this is the removal of a community asset that they love and use.
“So much is at stake, and so many procedural flaws have come to light that it’s only fair and just to bring the remaining key decisions to the planning committee to decide whether the information provided is satisfactory and does actually do what the conditions in the outline permission were designed to do.”
Cllr Warneken added:
“A site with springs and wet woodland isn’t just green space — it’s a living water system. Disturbing it without a thorough investigation risks damaging something that can’t easily be restored or replaced, which is why these sites are often considered candidates for detailed environmental assessment.
“We cannot ignore that this is one of the most controversial development proposals in Harrogate’s history, impacting on its heritage as a spa town, stripping us of our natural assets.”
Campaigners say that outline permission was granted without ecological surveys such as tree and bat assessments.
They are also unhappy the application does not include a drainage plan or surveys assessing potential impacts on the local water system.
Mr Gordon MP supported the request, saying: “Given the strength of opinion of Harrogate residents, I support this request for the decision-making process to be held in public.”
The council’s head of development management, Martin Grainger, said the authority understood the level of public interest in the application.
He added:
“We have carefully considered this request, raising it with officers and elected members as well as seeking legal advice.
“The reserved matters application will be reported back to members of the Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Planning Committee on a date to be confirmed.
“However, particular aspects relating to the application that have has already been granted will not be referred to the committee.”
A spokesperson for Danone North Europe, which owns the bottled water company, said:
“We have worked constructively with council officers to ensure our plans align with planning policy as well as reflect the feedback we have received from the local community.
“The planning documents (including S106 and Condition 12) provide certainty for both the community and the Council that we will deliver our commitments for sustainable development, as well as investing in economic growth in Harrogate.”
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