Tree campaigner Sarah Gibbs has described Harrogate Spring Water‘s plans to plant 1,200 trees to offset the loss of 450 others as “greenwash”.

The company revealed yesterday it will create a two-acre community woodland if it is granted permission to expand its bottling plant on Harlow Moor Road in Harrogate.

Expanding the plant would involve felling 450 trees in adjoining Rotary Wood, including some planted by schoolchildren in the 2000s.

But Ms Gibbs, who frequently dons a tree costume as part of her campaign to save Rotary Wood, said “the idea that you can offset this destruction is ludicrous”.

Harrogate Spring Water said its plans, which would create 50 jobs, would see three trees replace each one lost and “deliver a 10% increase in biodiversity levels in the area”. It is also identifying other locations in Harrogate to plant an extra 1,500 trees.

How the site would look.

But Ms Gibbs said:

“A sapling is not adequate compensation for the loss of a mature tree.

“It’s a misconception to say they can be replaced like this. It’s incorrect in terms of the wider impact on ecology.

“Clearly they have not listened to the public. They should leave the trees alone. They were planted by children to avert a climate crisis. This is ludicrous greenwash and I hope North Yorkshire Council steps in and says ‘no’.”

Harrogate Spring Water, which is part of French multinational Danone, secured outline planning permission in 2017, which means the principle of development has been established.

But it still requires North Yorkshire Council to approve a reserved matters application that agrees the details of the scheme.

A previous application by Harrogate Spring Water was rejected by councillors in January 2021.

Managing director Richard Hall said yesterday the company had listened to concerns because the proposed new woodland would, unlike previous plans, be open to the public.

But Ms Gibbs said:

“26,000 single-use plastic bottles an hour, shipped globally. That’s what they produce now. If this development goes ahead this number will increase. Global shipment means lorries, planes will increase, CO2 will increase, water extraction will increase. The only thing that will increase that they care about, is profit margins.

“Who’s to say years down the line they won’t want to expand again and destroy more of our beautiful pinewoods, and planet.

“We need less plastic. We need to protect our existing woodland.”

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Harrogate Spring Water has said it is reviewing plans to expand its bottling plant on Harlow Moor Road ahead of a new planning application being submitted.

Since 2017, the Danone-owned firm has had outline planning permission to expand its factory next to the Pinewoods.

But controversially, this would involve chopping down trees at Rotary Wood, a public woodland that includes trees planted by schoolchildren in the 2000s.

In January 2021, a high-profile reserved matters application that was 40% larger than the outline permission and looked to fell more trees than had been agreed was turned down by Harrogate Borough Council‘s planning committee.

The application generated a public backlash and led to a national debate about how a successful businesses can expand in the area of climate change and plastic pollution.

Following the refusal, Harrogate Spring Water confirmed it was putting together another keenly-anticipated reserved matters application that will show what the new building will look like. Crucially, it will also say where the new trees will be replanted.

The company held a public consultation event at the Crown Hotel in Harrogate last July where representatives, including managing director Richard Hall, spoke to residents about the plans.

Eight months later, the company has still not submitted the reserved matters application but a Harrogate Spring Water spokesperson said it remains committed to doing so.

The application will be decided by the new Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee on North Yorkshire Council.

A spokesperson for Harrogate Spring Water said: 

“Following the public consultation last year, we have and are continuing to review the feedback and develop the scheme.

“We are reviewing our plans in light of feedback we have received and are working towards a solution that will deliver for the people of Harrogate, the town and for Harrogate Spring Water.

“We are currently exploring options to address points raised during the course of our consultation process and remain committed to a detailed public consultation on these plans when we are ready to share the updated scheme.

“We plan to host a public drop-in exhibition, as well as engage with key local groups. As yet, we are unable to put a precise date on when this will take place, but we are working towards achieving this in as timely a manner as possible.”

Read more:

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• Campaigner accuses Harrogate Spring Water of ‘greenwashing’ over expansion plans

At a meeting of the Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee this week, campaigner Sarah Gibbs quoted the council’s own planning policies when she addressed councillors about why she believes the expansion should not go ahead.

As several members of the committee will sit on the new council’s planning committee, including chair Pat Marsh, they did not take part in any debate or ask questions.

Ms Gibbs has organised protests against the plans for several years and previously held a weekly vigil outside the council offices dressed as a tree.

She said: 

“Having finally recognised the state of emergency of the planet’s climate, it’s becoming more obvious that nature does not care for our laws policies or planning issues.

“Nature will act. The climate will continue to worsen unless we act, and we must act now. For what we do now is all that matters. What we choose to do now will determine or future, children’s future and future of the planet.”

Activist Sarah Gibbs has pledged to step-up the campaign to save Harrogate’s Rotary Wood after more than 100 people took part in the latest event.

Harrogate Spring Water, which is owned by French firm Danone, has revived 2017 plans to fell trees in Rotary Wood so it can expand its bottling plant.

Ms Gibbs has been at the forefront of the campaign to persuade councillors to reject the application when it comes before Harrogate Borough Council‘s planning committee.

She has organised numerous protests and stunts, often while dressed as a tree, to raise awareness of the issue.

The start of the walk to Rotary Wood. Pic credit: Edward Lee @edfclee

Last weekend’s walk to Rotary Wood was perhaps the most popular yet, attracting local people as well as delegates in Harrogate for the Green Party autumn conference.

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Among those taking part was 19-year-old Lucy Turner, who travelled from Manchester, where she attends university. She said:

“I’m from Harrogate and planted the trees here with Western Primary School when I was seven years old. Rotary Wood is extremely valuable to me.

“Expanding a company that produces plastic bottles is already extremely damaging to the environment and the fact that in doing so the Rotary Wood would be destroyed exacerbates the carelessness of this proposal, especially given the climate crisis we are currently battling.”

Pic credit: Edward Lee @edfclee

Neil Hind, chair of Pinewoods Conservation Group, said:

“We know the expansion plans remain a concern for the majority with the potential loss of acres of woodland and community green space.”

Pic credit: Edward Lee @edfclee

Ms Gibbs said the “fantastic turn-out was a reminder that these woods really do matter to so many people” and she feels the campaign is gathering momentum.

She said:

“Since our walk on Sunday there has been new and renewed interest and enthusiasm to save Rotary Wood.

“Members of the community have come forward to offer their support and so we plan to have discussions together regarding next steps asap.

“This is community in action so everybody’s input is welcome and valued.

“We envision future events and actions to be fun, creative, and educational. Most importantly, we hope to offer a variety of approaches to be as inclusive and engaging as possible.”

It is not known when Harrogate Spring Water’s planning application will come before the council’s planning committee.

A campaigner has accused Harrogate Spring Water of “greenwashing” over its latest plans to expand its plastic bottled water plant over a community woodland.

Sarah Gibbs, who has staged several protests dressed as a tree, said she had seen “no evidence” from the company on how it will manage the environmental impacts of the proposed expansion at Rotary Wood, which was planted by children 17 years ago.

Her comments come as Harrogate’s Green Party, Extinction Rebellion and other campaign groups are set to protest against the plans today.

Harrogate Spring Water, which is owned by French firm Danone, recently held a public consultation and is now “finalising” its proposals after a larger expansion was refused by Harrogate Borough Council last year.

Ms Gibbs said she took part in a recent consultation event, but added she was left with more questions than answers. She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service:

“I am interested to know how Harrogate Spring Water are finalising plans without a recent ecological survey.

“I attended the public consultation and saw no evidence of this, nor any evidence of an arboricultural impact assessment or tree protection plan.

“What I did see was a great deal of greenwashing, for example, launching a litter picking campaign.

“I have found Harrogate Spring Water bottles littering the streets of Harrogate and London.

“This is not a solution to a problem perpetuated by this industry.”

Read more:

• Harrogate Spring Water investigating new water sources on council land
• Harrogate Spring Water ‘finalising’ latest expansion plans

In response, a Harrogate Spring Water spokesperson said the company would listen to all concerns from the community and that environmental impact assessments would be provided when the new proposals are revealed in full.

The spokesperson said:

“We remain committed to this approach and to taking on board people’s views about the design and landscaping of the proposed extension, which was granted outline planning permission by Harrogate Borough Council in 2017.

“We are currently putting together our updated proposals for how the new building will look and how the surrounding area will be landscaped.

“We intend to put these proposals on display to the public to gather their thoughts before we send our updated reserved matters proposals to the council.”

When the larger expansion plans were refused in January 2021, the council was accused of putting “profit and plastic before the environment” as the authority recommended approval.

This sparked a huge backlash by the community, and the plans were later rejected by members of the council’s planning committee who said they could not support the recommendation as approval would have been “damaging” for Harrogate’s image.

Harrogate Spring Water, Harlow Moor Road in Harrogate.

Harrogate Spring Water then announced it would revert back to original plans for a smaller expansion, although questions remain over how much of Rotary Wood could be felled as the final designs have yet to be revealed.

Ms Gibbs, who will hold a protest walk from Harrogate Convention Centre to Rotary Wood on Sunday, said she was against the expansion altogether as the woodland needed to be protected because of its “great importance” to biodiversity and the community.

She said:

“If Harrogate Spring Water and Danone indeed listened to the community, they would not still be considering the deforestation of Rotary Wood.

“It is, in part, due to community action and outcry that the further expansion on the outline planning was refused.

“It is important that the people of the Harrogate district, and beyond, understand that they can be truly heard, and that their efforts to save Rotary Wood were not, and are not in vain. Still.”