The NO WEY Incinerator campaign group has welcomed Hampshire County Council’s announcement that Veolia must provide a “significant” amount of further information and evidence to support their proposal to build an incinerator in the Wey Valley near Alton.

If provided, this information will be the subject of a further public consultation – coming after the county council reviewed the 3,300 objections received from local residents, MPs and councils and also employed outside experts to analyse Veolia’s application and highlight its deficiencies.

Ben Stanberry, No Wey campaign spokesman, has praised the county for issuing two ‘Regulation 25’ notices, with a third to follow shortly, asking “probing questions” about the need for an incinerator and Veolia’s failure to consider any alternative sites, as well as its potential impacts on air quality and the landscape.

Mr Stanberry said: “We are pleased to see Hampshire are rightly sceptical of Veolia’s statement the incinerator would not attract waste from far afield.

“Hampshire already has three active incinerators so a fourth will exceed the capacity required under the county’s Minerals and Waste Plan.

“Veolia should be more open and transparent with the public. They would be highly unlikely to be burning Alton’s waste or even Hampshire’s waste – according to their planning application they would be burning waste that comes from as far away as Newbury, Leatherhead and Ascot. It cannot be right to exploit a beautiful rural location to profit from burning the waste of towns that are many miles away in other counties.”

Hampshire has also criticised Veolia for failing to fully explain its reasons for choosing the Wey Valley near Alton as a location and not considering any alternative sites, despite the council specifically asking them to do so as long ago as September 2019.

And county consultants have demanded to see more evidence to support Veolia’s claim the proposed incinerator will be “climate positive”.

Mr Stanberry said: “In their third notice we expect Hampshire will be asking questions about the proposed incinerator’s visual impact. Their Waste Plan requires a development to be of an appropriate scale in relation to its location and to maintain and enhance our area’s distinctive rural character.

“But no amount of screening with so-called ‘green walls’ can alter the fact 80-metre high chimneys, smoke plumes and night lighting will scar this idyllic landscape for generations to come.

“The No Wey Incinerator campaign group firmly believes the Wey Valley is completely the wrong location for an incinerator. It will seriously reduce the quality of life for residents in Alton, Farnham and the surrounding villages and will prevent investment in more sustainable and carbon-neutral methods of waste management such as recycling and reuse.”