A CAMPAIGN group fighting against the proposed incinerator close to Barton Stacey has said there are a number of “unanswered questions” as hundreds of pages of documents have been published by the American company Wheelabrator.

The business has proposed to build a “waste-to-energy facility” just north of the A303, and last week was the first time the public was able to review the plans and have a real say on the proposals.

Keep Test Valley Beautiful (KTVB) have begun trawling through the paperwork, with experts also casting their eye ahead of public consultation sessions.

Spokesperson Andy Joliffe said: “It’s a huge amount of documents – but still leaves many questions unanswered.”

Among them are details of how Wheelabrator plan to source large quantities of water without draining the local aquifer which is already under huge pressure.

“The River Test is just a few hundred meters away and is already at its lowest level for years. Anything that takes significant amounts of water could be very damaging to the environment and the world-famous fishing tourist industry that rely on the river.”

Wheelabrator say it will require the same amount of water as consumed by about 1185 households,

enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool each week, but KTVB say that is more than the combined consumption of several local villages surrounding the proposed plant.

Wheelabrator has also revealed a new slightly smaller design with a curved roof, with the group arguing that it would still be “massive” and dominate the countryside for miles around.

Mr Jolliffe said: ”It will still have the footprint of two Winchester Cathedrals and be just as tall.

“Looking at some of the mock-up images they have provided one would hardly know it was there.

It is insulting the public to imagine they can get away with showing a grey building against a grey sky, and they’ve very conveniently hidden a second turbine hall behind the main building, which in itself is another huge building at 30 metres high.”

Paul Green, vice president for business development at Wheelabrator, said: “Since we held our first stage of consultation we’ve been considering the feedback we received and adding a lot more detail to our proposals in the areas that we know are important to local people.

“Our assessment work is continuing, and we will add even more detail as we finalise our application, but this consultation represents an opportunity for the community to consider how our proposals have changed and give us their views on those changes.

“Our research shows that, even after all the Government’s recycling targets have been met, there will be around 900,000 tonnes of waste that’s being generated every year by Hampshire and the counties that are its immediate neighbours.

“Our proposals represent an environmentally responsible opportunity to divert a large proportion of this waste from being sent to landfill or exported overseas.”

The group is urging people to attend Wheelabrator’s community consultation events and to make sure that put any comments and questions in writing to the firm.

KTVB is also organising a series of drop in advice sessions at local pubs and other public buildings.

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