Burning anger at incinerator plan for spot where the stars go to fish

Huge waste disposal site could fit two cathedrals inside, but residents claim it is a threat to ecosystem

A CELEBRATED valley set among some of the south of England’s most scenic countryside is being threatened by plans to build an incinerator so vast it could house two cathedrals, protesters have claimed.

The Test Valley in Hampshire is home to some of the world’s best fishing spots, lying amid the rolling hills where house prices exceed £800,000.

But campaigners claim the area will be “destroyed” by plans for a “monstrous” waste incinerator. Thousands of protesters have criticised plans drawn up by Wheelabrator, an American technology giant, to construct the plant in the heart of the valley.

It is feared the incinerator – set to be 607ft (185m) long, 230ft (70m) wide and 151ft (46m) high – will need vast quantities of water, resulting in pollution in the River Test, where it may even draw water as part of the 135,000 cubic metres needed each year.

Campaigners say Winchester Cathedral could fit inside it twice.

Signs opposing the plant have been erected in the villages of Longparish and Barton Stacey, where residents are most likely to be affected.

The campaign is supported by a former adviser to David Cameron and former F1 drivers Jody Scheckter and Jonathan Palmer, who live locally.

Palmer, who is now a businessman, described the plans as “outrageous”. He said: “I can’t believe anyone would have the audacity to build something which would look whopping in an industrial area in the middle of the beautiful countryside. This company can see an opportunity and clearly doesn’t care about putting a monstrous building in the countryside. The whole thing is totally driven by greed.”

The Test Valley is known as a rural haven and international destination for fly fishermen, who pay hundreds a day for the chance to net salmon and trout from the chalk stream.

The spot is popular with celebrities including TV stars Jeremy Paxman and Chris Tarrant as well as Vinnie Jones, , the actor and former footballer.

Andy Jolliffe, 60, who is leading a protest group, said: “Here you have this sense of real tranquillity and isolation, but they are going to build an absolutely monstrous site … I’m sure people won’t want to fish there if there’s a towering incinerator above them.”

Richard Wills, 57, who has spent the last 15 years restoring parts of the river, and owns Middleton Estate, claimed taking water from the river would destroy its delicate ecological balance.

“Chalk streams are rarer than rainforests and 80 per cent of the world’s chalk streams are in southern England. They’re going to cause unimaginable damage to a precious ecosystem.”

Caroline Nokes, Tory MP before Parliament dissolved, criticised the plans as “simply in the wrong place”.

The scheme is classed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project and will require approval from the government’s Planning Inspectorate rather than the local council.

Wheelabrator claim the incinerator will save up to 500,000 tons of waste from being dumped in landfill sites or sent abroad as well as generating energy for more than 110,000 homes.