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We've been doing this since 2019!

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Harrogate Spring Water made their first application to expand their bottling plant in 2016 (16/05254/OUTMAJ). Their latest application can be found using reference '20/01539/REMMAJ' on the North Yorkshire Council planning page.

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Rotary Wood is a designated Asset of Community Value woodland. It was planted 20 years ago by community groups and local school children to commemorate the Rotary centenary and to tackle climate change.

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Rotary Wood is part of 96 acres of land known as The Pinewoods. The Pinewoods has been an asset of community value since 4th March, 2015. It is registered as such on North Yorkshire Council’s Register of Assets of Community Value. The Pinewoods Conservation Group was formed in October 2002 and became a registered charity (Reg Charity No:1097890) on 30th January 2003.

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An ‘asset of community value’ is an asset that furthers the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community (or has done in the recent past).

 

Our 4.25-acre woodland is a beautiful, thriving green space with public access throughout the entire area. It is well-used and well-loved by the community, supporting physical and emotional wellbeing. Rotary Wood supports a variety of flora and fauna, including protected species and local priority species. Our woodland is now at the stage for optimal carbon sequestration, supporting a sustainable future.

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Our woodland is under threat from Danone/Harrogate Spring Water (HSW) development plans. Danone/HSW intend to expand their existing single-use plastic water bottling plant into our community woodland. The plant currently produces 200 million single-use plastic bottles annually to ship across the UK and globally. The recent 2023 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Climate Change Report states the necessity to ‘HALT deforestation’ now (www.ipcc.ch). New woodland creation must take place alongside protecting and maintaining existing woodland, not as ‘mitigation’ for deforestation. The negative implications this development poses on a local and global scale are not to be ignored during the current climate emergency.

 

Current ecological surveys and bat surveys provided by HSW are insufficient. There are no badger surveys, despite us submitting documented evidence of badgers commuting and foraging on site in our recent objections. There are no current tree surveys and ‘Mitigation’ plans are insufficient and questionable. North Yorkshire Council’s tree expert has said that he is currently “not in a position to support” this expansion. Already over 600 members of the community have objected.