Harrogate Spring Water’s parent company Danone has written to local MP Tom Gordon defending its expansion plans, claiming the development will deliver a biodiversity net gain. But Danone’s own documents on the planning portal — including the Council Ecologist’s report published on 19 September 2025 — paint a different picture.
While Danone presents its plans as delivering environmental gain, the Council’s ecology report and Harrogate Spring Water’s own letter to Planning in July – both state that it aims to achieve ‘no net loss’ of biodiversity – which is merely balancing out, rather than adding value. Both sources state that this would be achieved with the help of buying biodiversity credits – a way of paying for habitat to be created elsewhere. DEFRA itself describes these credits as “a last resort way of acquiring biodiversity units needed to achieve BNG.”
In Danone’s letter written by their Head of Public Affairs to MP Tom Gordon, they also claim to more than compensate for the lost Council-owned community woodland with the creation of a new two-acre ‘community woodland’. The reality is that this new woodland would belong to Danone, not the community, with public access and tree protections as yet unknown, as no draft Section 106 agreement will be available before the meeting.
Sarah Gibbs from Save Rotary Wood said:
I hope our council prioritise community and environment over profit, especially as the expansion can be located elsewhere and need not be in our well-loved woodland – which is a designated Asset of Community Value.
Cllr Arnold Warneken said:
I’m deeply concerned that Danone has written to our MP with what appears to be misleading information before a planning application is considered.
Cllr Mike Schofield added:
I cannot believe that it is considered appropriate for the committee to decide when there is no draft Section 106 Agreement available. We cannot do this on trust — it must be considered on all, not just some, of the facts.
