Overview
- North Yorkshire’s Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee, meeting Friday at Harrogate Civic Centre, unanimously refused Harrogate Spring Water’s reserved‑matters bid to extend its plant into Rotary Wood.
- Councillors cited flaws including an ecology survey done in August rather than spring, a design they said fell short of climate goals, and the scale of a factory extension that would roughly double the site.
- The plan targeted part of Rotary Wood, a community woodland planted about 20 years ago by local children and volunteers, with hundreds of trees at risk and more than 1,000 objections filed.
- HSW, owned by Danone, said only about 500 trees would be affected and proposed a new two‑acre public wood with 491 trees plus roughly 3,000 more planted across the district, along with over 50 new jobs.
- Despite officers recommending approval, the committee rejected the details after weeks of high‑profile campaigning by figures such as Judi Dench and Joanna Lumley, and the company said it is considering its next steps.