Damning EU verdict on spa town water sparks debate

The council has shut off the supply at the Royal Pump Room Museum after tests required by recent EU law showed the water, which has been drunk for health-boosting properties as far back as the 1620s, contained chemicals.

The Yorkshire Post has learned that the item has now been added as an “urgent item of business” to Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

A report prepared by officers into the decision has not currently been made available to the public, but Wallace Sampson, the chief executive of the local authority, has moved to assure residents that the decision over a key part of the spa town’s heritage will not be made under a veil of secrecy.

“If the cabinet’s view is that the taps should be turned back, on then we will be doing that as quickly as possible,” Mr Sampson said. “Clearly we need to take a view on this, one way or another.”

Harrogate historian Malcolm Neesam, who has branded the EU ruling disgraceful, yesterday urged cabinet members to restore the water which in the 19th century would be sampled by as much as 1,400 people in a day, and is still a major tourist draw.

The council says it is likely to put up a notice saying the water is not for consumption.

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