Spring water cash should benefit town, says MP

A town would be about £250,000 a year wealthier if money paid for the use of its name by a bottled water company was given back to it, an MP said.

Harrogate Spring Water pays 0.5% of its net sales to North Yorkshire Council to use the town's name.

The money previously went to Harrogate Borough Council, before it was abolished in 2023 as part of major local government reorganisation.

Now the town's Lib Dem MP, Tom Gordon, has launched a petition calling for the "value of their town's name to be reinvested in the community", by being paid to the new town council.

Mr Gordon said the last payment Harrogate Spring Water made to North Yorkshire Council was £176,806 , which he described as "nearly half of the future Harrogate Town Council's budget".

He said redirecting the levy to the new town council, which will be elected on Thursday, would represent a 48.84% increase in its budget, which would "allow the council to do more to improve the town".

His petition states: "The Lib Dems believe that the money should be returned to the town through the new town council. The money is equivalent to around a quarter of a million pounds a year."

Mr Gordon said the annual levy should be "returned to Harrogate, not hidden away by North Yorkshire Council".

He added: "It's Harrogate's, not North Yorkshire's name, that is earning this money, and Harrogate should see the benefit."

North Yorkshire Council's executive member for finance, Councillor Gareth Dadd, said: "Harrogate Spring Water leases land from us and the arrangement includes an annual payment, plus an amount relating to the revenue of the business.

"This is not unusual for a commercial lease, and we use the revenue to fund our work for the benefit of residents and businesses, including those in Harrogate, as well as across the whole county."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Harrogate Spring Water said the company was "immensely proud to host the town's name above its door" and said the success of the business and the town were "intrinsically linked".

Referring to the charge the company paid, a spokesperson said: "Where and how the levy paid for the use of the Harrogate name is used, is a matter for local government, but Harrogate's prosperity matters to us, and we support any measures that improve it."

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