Green light for plan to cut down woodland for bigger bottling plant

CONTROVERSIAL PLANS to cut down a community woodland to make way for an expansion of Harrogate Spring Water’s bottling plant have been recommended for approval by council officers.

Harrogate Spring Water was granted outline planning permission to expand its bottling site next to Rotary Wood in 2017 – a decision that was strongly opposed by the town’s environmental groups.

Two years later, the company then submitted a revised application that is 40 per cent larger than the one approved.

Campaigners, company bosses and council officers have since been locked in talks to try to reach agreements over the plans which have now been recommended for approval at a meeting next week.

Harrogate Spring Water – which was last year taken over by the French food company Danone – has offered to replant the trees lost on another site in the town. However, green groups have argued this would not compensate for the loss of existing woodland.

Harrogate Borough Council’s planning department said it was recommending the plans for approval because the economic benefits of the proposed development would outweigh the negative impacts of losing the woodland.

“There are significant economic benefits of the proposed development, including job creation, other financial benefits to the district and the enhancement of the Harrogate brand,” officers said in a report.

They added: “It is acknowledged that the proposed development would result in an additional loss of trees and would harm the landscape.”

The plans have been recommended for approval subject to conditions on management of the woodland, landscaping, noise, hours of operation and more.

Councillors will make a decision on the proposals at a meeting on Tuesday.