Famous TV presenter's plea over future of Rotary Wood in Harrogate

TV presenter Julia Bradbury has waded into the argument over expansion plans at Rotary Wood by Harrogate Spring Water which has seen the national press including The Times, The Independent and The Guardian publish articles.
TV presenter Julia Bradbury - “The community needs and deserves access to this much-loved green space."TV presenter Julia Bradbury - “The community needs and deserves access to this much-loved green space."
TV presenter Julia Bradbury - “The community needs and deserves access to this much-loved green space."

Harrogate Borough Council's planning committee is set to make a decision tomorrow (January 26) over whether Harrogate Spring Water can extend its factory by building onto surrounding woodland, which is currently council-owned and leased to the company, which is owned by Danone, the French multinational food-products corporation.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In Ms Bradbury’s open letter, she writes it would be “morally wrong” to cut down community woodland to expand the plastic bottling plant.

The presenter, who is a vocal campaigner for access to the outdoors and against plastic pollution, wrote: “The community needs and deserves access to this much-loved green space on a local scale, and plastic is a major pollution problem that needs tackling on a global scale.”

She added that the United Nations that only nine per cent of the 400m tonnes of plastic waste produced annually is currently recycled, and that by 2050 it is estimated that there will be more plastic in the world's oceans than fish.

Harrogate Spring Water was initially granted permission to extend its bottle plant facilities, then two years later the company submitted revised proposals for a plant which was 40 per cent larger than the initial blueprint.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Rob Pickering, a senior spokesperson for Harrogate Spring Water, said: “We’d like to reassure the local community that the plan for Rotary Wood places a huge focus on supporting the local environment and promoting biodiversity.

“Our plans include a commitment to replacing the trees on a two for one basis and a long term plan to ensure they are looked after and protected. And for the area of Rotary Woods that will remain as woodland, we will be investing to enhance its accessibility and usability for the community. We are and will continue to be good considerate neighbours within Harrogate.”

A message from the Editor

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.