Councillors have raised serious concerns about compliance and transparency, as Planning have confirmed they are missing emails and environmental checks for the planning application granted to Harrogate Spring Water in 2017.
The Council last week posted on their Public portal that no Environmental Impact Assessment is needed at all for the application. Independent Councillor Mike Schofield has asked North Yorkshire Council’s planning team to review the decision that says no Environmental Impact Assessment is needed, despite removing more than 500 trees.
Cllr Arnold Warneken has asked officers to verify if the proper checks had been done before the outline permission was granted. The Council confirmed that no screening exists either for the outline or the application to settle ‘reserved matters’.
A Freedom of Information response stated: “Previous Case Officers involved in these cases have now left North Yorkshire Council and we no longer have access to their emails or folders.”
Rotary Wood is owned by the Council and is designated an Asset of Community Value – because of its importance to social wellbeing and local people. It sits within the Pinewoods and Valley Gardens Special Landscape Area. Campaigners Save Rotary Wood argue that this increases the environmental sensitivity of the site and should have triggered an EIA consideration from the start.
Cllr Mike Schofield said:
I’ve asked the Council to do two things: 1) check that the decision that the development doesn’t need an Environment Impact Assessment is sound and 2) to ensure that the Planning Committee – not officers – decide whether the outline conditions have been met properly. I’m awaiting a response.
I also encouraged Save Rotary Wood to ask Tom Gordon MP to ask the Secretary of State to consider intervening.
It’s sad that we may need Whitehall involved in a local decision but with the level of public interest, differing legal views, and clear procedural failings, it seems important that we get an independent view. And that’s why full scrutiny by the Planning Committee is essential at this stage.
I know officers work hard in a very overstretched environment, and this is no reflection on them – just of the processes in place.
Cllr Arnold Warneken said:
Enough is enough – it’s time for the Planning Committee to scrutinise these decisions.
We must make sure that the Councillors and Officers are fully briefed so that they understand both the rule and the facts here.
Decisions must be made on evidence, not instinct – we need to ensure that everyone has the full facts and the correct legal framework.
It is an absolute disgrace that the council are even remotely considering the destruction of Rotary Woods. So many people myself included, feel passionately about the woods which provide beautiful and tranquil walks as well as vital habitat for hundreds of species of wildlife. My quality of life will be considerably impacted if these plans go ahead and I know many people feel the same way. Why should a large business be allowed to do this rather than relocating to a more suitable brown field site? Yes, jobs are important, but unemployment is relatively low currently and most staff have to travel to work anyway and so a change of location for them has a far less detrimental effect than killing beautiful healthy trees that belong to us, the ordinary people who love and appreciate them. PLEASE don’t do this. I will be utterly heartbroken if you do. PLEASE think of all the creatures who live in the woods. PLEASE do the right thing and encourage Harrogate Spring Water to relocate and leave these precious woods in peace.