A CONTROVERSIAL scheme for a power station at Micheldever could be scuppered by a humble dormouse.

Clear Power Properties wants to build an ‘energy from waste’ plant on a former railway sidings at Micheldever Station.

Hampshire County Council is to have the final say on the scheme which has already been given the thumbs down by Winchester City Council.

County planners have asked the developer for more information about ecology on the site off Overton Road, a Site of Importance For Nature Conservation (SINC).

Speaking at the annual general meeting of the Dever Society on Monday (March 25) in Northbrook Hall, Micheldever, parish councillor Adrian Bates said ecologists were currently counting dormice, a protected species.

Mr Bates said the former railway siding had been left undisturbed for nearly 70 years and had become a nature reserve.

He said: “It is only a few acres but special because nobody ever goes there.”

Mr Bates is chairman of Micheldever Action Group set up to fight the scheme. Concerns include the number of heavy lorries, possible toxic emissions and uncertainty of the technology.

A decision was expected this spring but is likely to be delayed until autumn for environmental studies through summer.

Christopher Napier, chairman of the Hampshire branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), was guest speaker at the AGM.

He said the CPRE was behind measures which had protected the countryside in recent years, including greenbelts, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the principle of building on brownfield before greenfield sites.

“The problem is the focus on building on brownfield land first is being watered down by Government, drip by drip.”

Mr Napier said planning policy needed to target building most new homes in existing settlements to reduce intrusion into the countryside.

“Urban renewal is using brownfield sites. It is what most people want. They actually don’t want urban sprawl.”

Chairman Douglas Paterson paid tribute to three of the Dever Society’s executive committee who stepped down this year: Tessa Robertson (vice-chairman), Phil Dowson (treasurer) and Hugh Sanders (parish liaison).

The society, which was set up in the 1990s to fight a new town at Micheldever Station, has 6,000 members.