These are the 'consequences' if Harrogate Spring Water's expansion plans are rejected

After revealing that the company was now “close to resubmitting” its expansion application with the end of August a distinct possibility, Harrogate Spring Water’s managing director Richard Hall said, while “not a matter of life and death” for HSW if it failed to expand, there would be an impact.

"The business will still exist if councillors do say no to the latest version of our expansion plans but it is an important decision,” said Mr Hall.

"We would still continue to grow the Harrogate brand but there will come a time where we will hit capacity and then further growth will be a challenge."

Harrogate Spring Water originally secured outline planning permission to build a larger bottling plant in 2017, which remains valid, the reserved matters stage deals with its appearance, size and landscaping.

If anything, controversy over the expansion, which would necessitate the axing of much-loved Rotary Wood, has grown since Harrogate Spring Water was taken over in 2022 by international food and drink giant Danone, which also owns Evian.

Mr Hall explained the rationale of the purchase of Harrogate Spring Water, saying there were good economic reasons why Danone was committed to the continued success of Harrogate Spring Water, a brand seen everywhere from Royal Ascot to international travel.

"This was a business opportunity for Danone,” said Mr Hall.

"Harrogate Spring Water operates in channels which Evian doesn’t.

"Danone is successful in two bottled water markets in the UK and Ireland where we have two French brands.

"But it didn’t have a really premium water brand suitable for restaurants and hotels.

"Harrogate Spring Water is also perfect for the “away from home” market.

"It’s here that Danone hopes to become even more of a leader.

"The growth of mindful drinking; the fact that fewer young people are drinking alcohol, means water has an even more important role to play in terms of healthy living.

"As part of that, we want to see the name of Harrogate being carried to even more places than it already is.”

In previous rounds of the long-running saga, Harrogate Spring Water has emphasised that a bigger bottling plant would boost the level of economic output generated – known as Gross Valued Added (GVA) - by around £2.3m a year to £6.2m a year, creating approximately 50 new jobs.

The company says it has listened to the concerns from a wide range of Harrogate groups and local councillors about the environmental impact of a bigger bottling plant, and was keen to work with them on the details of the project.

Harrogate Spring Water’s MD is also keen to point out that Danone had shown its commitment to the bottled water brand during Covid.

What’s more, the idea of producing Harrogate Spring Water elsewhere was simply a non-starter.

"Danone bought Harrogate Spring Water during Covid,” said Mr Hall.

"It was a tough period but Danone invested in it to keep it going when the shopping, eating out and travel markets were basically closed.

"The company has also been taking steps to make the business more efficient; bringing in experts while keeping it local.

"It would be extremely challenging in practical terms to move the operation somewhere else, which would mean the pipelines, too.

"Just as importantly, there are strong regulatory barriers to where and how you source spa water for a spa water product."

The MD said Harrogate Spring Water’s focus would remain on growing the brand to the benefit of the town – even if the controversial expansion plans did not go ahead.

"There is still room for Harrogate Spring Water to grow but we wouldn’t want to lose our leading position in the premium bottled water market,” he said.

"It’s hard to know what the outcome will be when councillors decide on the reserved matters application.

"We believe our expansion plans are a positive move for the town and we want to work closely with the community to mitigate the loss of trees at Rotary Wood.”