Letter to the editor: Will Danone bleed Harrogate dry?

There is one highly relevant question which does not appear to have been adequately addressed: ‘Is the proposed rate of extraction of water from the aquifer sustainable?’ If the aquifer contains water which ‘has been filtered for years through layers of rock’ (as stated on the Harrogate Spring Water website) then clearly, whatever the number of years, the water available within the aquifer for sustainable extraction is limited to the rate of replacement, which is dependent on rainfall within the catchment area and how much of that seeps into the rock strata.

If there is no hydrologist’s report confirming that the proposed increased rate of extraction is sustainable, then North Yorkshire Council should reject the application for expansion, because it would result in the aquifer drying up.

We should ask, if the proposed rate of extraction is sustainable, then why have Harrogate Spring Water developed plans to bring in water from other sources? This alone should raise concerns about the sustainability argument.

There are documented cased of multinational companies extracting excessive volumes of water from aquifers in the search for short-term profits. We should not allow this to happen here in Harrogate.

Reg Tayler

Park Place, Park Parade, Harrogate