North Yorkshire Council scheduled a Planning Committee to hear the Harrogate Spring Water (Danone) bottling plant expansion. That was at 8-days notice, with the Committee being on the 17 April 2026.
It was a surprise date those opposing the planning, as they believed it was due at the scheduled date of 28 April 2026.
The Pinewoods Conservation Group formally requested more notice for the Committee, but were refused on legal grounds.
Harrogate Spring Water, through their engaged PR company has said that they only knew about the Committee date, when the public were made aware.
We put some questions to North Yorkshire Council on the timing of this committee:
- Please could you tell me why it has been scheduled for a meeting at one-weeks notice, rather than the scheduled date at the end of the month ?
- If it needs the time of its own meeting, why wasn’t more time allowed for people to be aware ?
North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director for community development, Nic Harne, said:
We recognise there is significant public interest in this application.
Meeting agendas are published eight days in advance, and all comments submitted in accordance with the planning process will be considered before a decision is made.
The meeting will be broadcast live on our website and on the North Yorkshire Council YouTube channel.
On the 20 April 26, North Yorkshire Council releases the agenda for the Harrogate Planning Committee for the 28 April 26 – that showed a single planning item.
This now creates a question, why was the Harrogate Spring Water planning application, given its own extraordinary Planning Committee, when there was capacity in the scheduled committee ?
