CAMPAIGNERS who raised around £100,000 in a successful campaign to stop a controversial incinerator have chosen to donate the left over funds to local groups.

In February US firm Wheelabrator decided to scrap plans to build a waste-to-energy incinerator on land just north of the A303, near Barton Stacey.

And now the Keep Test Valley Beautiful (KTVB) committee, after discussions with major donors, has decided to distribute the surplus to charities and public bodies to be used for the benefit of local people, and also to national anti-incineration groups.

One of those is Barton Stacey Parish Council which will receive £1,200.

Barton Stacey villagers played a large part in the campaign, at one stage almost every house on the main street through the village boasted a Bin the Incinerator placard.

Andover Food Bank, which like most food banks is under great pressure because of Covid 19, has been given £4,800 and £1,800 has gone to the Countess of Becknock hospice.

Most of the £85,000 spent on the Incinerator campaign paid for for specialist advice from consultants such as planning, landscape, ecology, hydrology, air quality and heritage issues. Some went on leafleting campaigns in Whitchurch, Laverstoke Overton and elsewhere.

KTVB chair David Wright said: “It’s been a hectic and sometimes stressful 12 months. The anxiety of what this project would have meant for all our communities has been a constant worry.”

He added: “Villagers who raised around £100,000 in a successful campaign to stop a controversial incinerator have chosen to donate the left over funds to local groups.

Announcing its decision to “no longer proceed” with the project, Wheelabrator Technologies vice president for business development, Paul Green, said: “Having undertaken a strategic review of the wide range of opportunities in our current pipeline, we have decided to focus our efforts on further advanced waste-to-energy projects, and as such, will no longer continue to invest in the development of the Wheelabrator Harewood waste-to-energy facility.

“Wheelabrator would like to thank everyone who took the time to provide feedback as part of our recent community consultations.”

The full list of donations is as follows: Andover Food Bank (£4,800); Countess of Brecknock Hospice (£1,800); Longparish Community Association (£3,000); Barton Stacey Parish Council (£1,200); Whitchurch Community Support Group (£500); Laverstoke Parish Council (£500); Hurstbourne Priors Parish Council (£500); Overton Parish Council (£500); UK Without Incineration Network (£1,250); and the Plume Plotter (£150).