COLLEGE chiefs have defended plans for a 'Green Gas Mill' to be built in Sparsholt, despite further protests from the local community.

Residents are concerned that the anaerobic digester, which turns grass into gas by boiling it, will create more traffic on the roads around Sparsholt College However, a report by eco-gas supplier Ecotricity - who will finance and develop the mill - has shown traffic will only increase by three per cent.

Another issue raised at a consultation meeting on Tuesday (FEB 9) was that vehicles transporting grass from local farms would be large lorries, but the college confirmed that tractors with trailers will be used.

College principal Tim Jackson said “We understand local residents' concerns about extra traffic in and out of the college.

“We have addressed these concerns in the planning application and can reassure people that the Green Gas Mill will only receive normal farm traffic, such as tractors with trailers, which are typical of the countryside.

“The only difference is the tractors will be coming into the college rather than the farmer taking their produce somewhere else,” said Mr Jackson.

A maximum of three tractors will enter the site every hour and the drivers will have to use specific pre-planned routes or face disciplinary action.

The entrance to the site has been designed to only be accessible from a certain direction, meaning vehicles would avoid Sparsholt village.

However, Sparsholt resident Michael Hodder, of Home Lane, was not convinced by the plans.

“My main objection is the transport situation,” said Mr Hodder. “The mill may be doing a lot of good for the environment, but the tractors used for transporting the grass are diesel powered.

“This makes it a completely pointless exercise and will also block up our very narrow lanes.”

As previously reported by the Hampshire Chronicle, the mill is expected to produce power for the equivalent of almost 5,000 homes per year, including the college.

It will also pump £3million into the local economy every year for the 20 years of its operation, said the college.

Stuart Brennan, head of public relations for Ecotricity, said: “We want to build hundreds of these mills all over the country and this is our first step at doing so.

“Ecotricity want to do a good job at Sparsholt, because if we don't we will never be able to build other Green Gas Mills.

“It is clearly in our best interests to do a good job.”

Up to eight specialist jobs will be created, while new supply contracts with farmers will also reinforce existing jobs on the land.

Ecotricity will also help fund the development of a renewable energy centre, where the college can train students.

A member of Winchester Action on Climate Change, Anne Weir, a Liberal Democrat city councillor, backed the plans.

She said: “I think it is a really exciting scheme. It has the potential to create more jobs on farms in the area and also to save the environment in the process.

"I call that a win-win!” said Cllr Weir whose ward covers the Weeke area.