Battle of words and lingering fears in Harrogate's 'biggest planning battle for decades'

The two sides of Harrogate’s biggest planning battle for decades may appear further apart than ever in the run-up to a key council meeting in Harrogate on Tuesday, November 28 .

But the premium bottled water brand’s boss Richard Hall argues the fact Harrogate Rotary Club is no longer opposing the proposals is part of a pattern of quiet, wider support than the more vocal nature of campaigners in the town might suggest.

“As this lengthy process has gone on, we haven’t actually seen more and more people object to what we are proposing,” said Mr Hall who was appointed managing director of Harrogate Spring Water in 2022, two years after the town’s famous water brand was bought by French multi-national Danone.

"A recent survey showed 71% of the Harrogate public were supportive of our expansion.

"We believe a quiet majority in the town think our plans are positive and that we have come up with the right solutions to the loss of trees at Rotary Wood that the business expansion would require.

"It is significant that Harrogate Rotary Club, which planted the trees and was against our proposals earlier have now told us they no longer object and wish to remain neutral.

"On top of that, North Yorkshire Council has now recommended that our plans be approved.”

It may be a very Harrogate decision about a very Harrogate matter but the seven-year planning wrangle has become caught up in the wider debate at the national level about climate change amid newspaper headlines, celebrity protests and activists dressed as trees.

Beneath a wide range of environmental concerns raised against Harrogate Spring Water’s expansion plans at Harlow Hill, from the use of plastic to how many new trees will be planted and who will own them, lies a fear that one of Harrogate’s leading brands at home and abroad is going to start acting like a multi-national company in future with, perhaps, further expansions and new shocks.

But its MD Richard Hall is categorical that, as a premium brand linked to the town’s spa heritage, Harrogate Spring Water is not a mass market brand and won’t be behaving like one in future.

"Harrogate Spring Water is not a mass market company and our water is not a mass market brand,” said Mr Hall

"It’s a premium product which you find on trains and planes and at prestigious sporting events, not on every street corner.

"It is inextricably linked to its water source in Harrogate and to the town itself and we are very proud of that.

"There is no ambition to be a mass market brand.”

After multiple public consultations and revisions to its expansion plans, as well as boosting its business prospects and those of the town, Harrogate Spring Water aims to remain a “good neighbour”.

Without any fuss, it quietly sponsors several good causes in the local community, including Henshaws, Harrogate Hospital, and Supporting Older People.

That it does not do even more than this is down to one simple fact, says Richard Hall.

Harrogate Spring Water may now be part of an international food and drinks giant but each business under the Danone umbrella is limited by the fact they have to “stand on their own two feet,” he said.

But it is clear that no amount of reassuring words can move the dial for opponents of the long-delayed expansion.

In fact, Pinewoods Conservation Group, for one, has hardened its position in the days before what may be the final decision on the issue.

Known for taking a practical and reasoned approach in general, after years of constructive engagement with Harrogate Spring Water, the charity dedicated to protecting the habitat in the Pinewoods area said it would be objecting to the expansion.

It cites what it says are the company’s failure to meet key conditions in the planning application, including Condition 12, which requires an approved ecological mitigation plan.

In addition, it claims the absence of a Section 106 agreement to secure biodiversity compensation and long-term habitat management raises doubts over the site’s future.

This picture of the environment in Harrogate “under threat” is one not recognised by Harrogate Spring Water which says it stands ready to do the right thing.

"We have responded to all the concerns put to us and have dealt with them one at a time,” said MD Richard Hall.

"We will follow the needs of Condition 12 and there will be a Section 106 agreement to bring some confidence in the years ahead.

"We have worked hard with Harrogate Rotary Club on our plans.

"We have invested in the land to create a new woodland to compensate for the loss of Rotary Wood, which is fairly significant, and we will invest to maintain it on behalf of the public.”

The bottled water company’s reluctance to gift’ the new woodland to community control is one of the reasons Pinewoods Conservation Group has opted to take such a strong line in the run-up to the crucial planning decision.

It is clear, there will be no benefit of the doubt granted from the doubters.

Such is the strength of feeling among the charity’s members, some of them are expected to join campaigners from Save Rotary Wood Group in a protest outside Harrogate Civic Centre an hour before the planning meeting actually begins tomorrow at 2pm.