IT TOOK a mere matter of minutes for councillors to emphatically agree a response to plans to build a “massive” incinerator in Barton Stacey.

US company Wheelabrator is hoping to build a waste-to-energy incinerator – with chimneys that could reach heights of 80 metres – near the Barton Stacey junction of the A303.

Wheelabrator has been holding a public consultation since the start of last month, enabling residents and organisations to have their say over the proposed scheme.

And at Thursday’s meeting of the Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC) northern area planning committee, those councillors in attendance agreed unanimously to object to the proposal on a whole host of grounds.

A report prepared by the council’s officers in advance of the meeting, and subsequently backed by councillors, cited “inadequate information which has been submitted for public consultation” as the primary basis for its conclusion.

Specific comments relating to air quality, noise and vibration, ground contamination, the impact on a nearby solar farm, water demand and more were also highlighted in the report.

Before debating their response, councillors heard from various local stakeholders.

Barton Stacey Parish councillor Nigel Cooper spoke to ‘fully endorse’ the points laid out in the pre-prepared TVBC officers’ report.

He also noted the incinerator operators’ environmental record, which “isn’t good”, and said it was “disingenuous” for Wheelabrator to describe the incinerator as low-carbon.

And addressing the appearance of the proposed facility, he added: “One resident has said that it’s like putting makeup on a pig, and I think that’s actually rather unfair to pigs.”

He continued: “And how perverse is it that both Hampshire County Council and TVBC have recently declared climate change emergencies and yet here we are with a proposal for a greenhouse gas guzzling monster in our very midst, destroying council efforts to improve our environment. That makes no sense at all.

Longparish parish councillor Christian Dryden then echoed those statements, adding: “Longparish parish council are against the Wheelabrator Harewood proposal due to the size, location and ecological impact the proposed facility as already described.”

Henry Yelf, from the campaign group Keep Test Valley Beautiful, also had a chance to speak, labelling Wheelabrator’s plan a “proposed act of environmental and ecological vandalism”.

Debating the motion, TVBC councillor Chris Donnelly reiterated the concerns of his Downlands ward constituents and thanked the council’s officers for producing “such an comprehensive report”.

All seven councillor then voted to object to the proposal to build a waste to energy facility on the basis of the recommendations outlined in the council’s report.

It comes as concerns have been raised by residents living in Micheldever - around seven miles from the site, who say they have not been consulted.

Resident Tiffany Llewelyn said that the public consultation was "laughable", and in a comment to Wheelabrator adding: "Most people in my village are unaware of the proposed incinerator and if they are aware, they certainly do not realise the colossal size of it and damage it will cause. You have certainly failed to consult in Micheldever."

She continued: "You have a duty to consult everywhere within a 15 mile radius of the proposed site. Winchester has a population of approximately 124,000 people, you have failed to deliver a public consultation in this major city let alone all the villages in the surrounding area.

"You have done the bare minimum to consult the public, so do not call it a public consultation, so far it is absolutely anything but."

The consultation ends at 5pm on Thursday, to have your say www.wtiharewood.co.uk/consultation.

The results of Wheelabrator’s public consultation exercise on the scheme is likely to be submitted to the planning inspectorate for formal consideration next year.