Government steps back from bottled water decision

The government has refused to intervene in a bottled water company's plans to extend its factory into community woodland.

Harrogate Spring Water plans to increase the size of its Harlow Moor Road plant but campaigners say about 500 trees could be lost.

Ministers had instructed North Yorkshire Council to delay a decision on plans while it considered whether to call in the application.

But in a letter to Harrogate MP Tom Gordon, secretary of state for housing, communities and local government Steve Reed said he had decided against ruling on the application.

His parliamentary under-secretary Baroness Taylor of Stevenage wrote: "I am sorry that this is not the outcome that you or your constituents may have hoped for, and I realise the decision will come as a disappointment.

"However, it is now for North Yorkshire Council to determine the application."

Gordon said he was disappointed with the decision and if the plans go ahead, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

He said: "This is a David and Goliath battle, one of a large foreign multinational corporation versus local residents who will have to deal with the impact of our natural resources being exploited for private profit.

"We have fantastic local residents, councillors, and organisations like the Pinewoods Conservation group and a proper grassroots community-led campaign."

Members of the council's Harrogate and Knaresborough area planning committee deferred a decision on the expansion amid objections from campaigners in October last year.

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