Harrogate Spring Water: Government refuses to intervene in bottled water factory expansion controversy

Ministers had instructed North Yorkshire Council not to make a decision on plans by Harrogate Spring Water to increase the size of its plant in the town’s Harlow Moor Road while it considered whether to call in the application.

But Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, has now decided against making a ruling on the application.

In a letter to Harrogate MP Tom Gordon, who had requested the call-in, Baroness Taylor of Stevenage, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Local Government, said: “The Secretary of State has considered your request and has decided, having had regard to the call-in policy, not to call in this application.

“I am sorry that this is not the outcome that you or your constituents may have hoped for, and I realise the decision will come as a disappointment.

“However, it is now for North Yorkshire Council to determine the application.

“If your constituents wish to make any further representations, they should do so to the officers or members of the council.”

Mr Gordon said he was disappointed with the decision.

He added: “This is a David and Goliath battle, one of a large foreign multinational corporation versus local residents who will have to deal with the impact of our natural resources being exploited for private profit.

“We have fantastic local residents, councillors, and organisations like the Pinewoods Conservation group and a proper grassroots community-led campaign. I’ll continue to work with them going forward as the application progresses.”

Members of the council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area planning committee deferred a decision on the expansion amid objections from campaign groups and local politicians over the loss of around 500 trees in Rotary Wood in October last year.

However, the application was expected to be considered again early in the New Year before the call-in request to the government was made.

A spokesperson for Danone North Europe, parent company of Harrogate Spring Water, said: “We welcome the Secretary of State’s decision that the proposed Harrogate Spring Water bottling facility expansion does not need to be considered by the government and the decision remains with the North Yorkshire Council.

“We have worked constructively with council officers and engaged with the local community to ensure our plans align with planning policy and reflect the commitments we have made. We look forward to a timely decision on the application.”