Marchwood Incinerator to process refuse from outside of Hampshire

7:10pm Thursday 12th November 2009

By Rachel Masker

That was the reaction of villagers after councillors agreed to bring in rubbish from outside Hampshire to be burnt at a landmark incinerator.

Furious residents in Marchwood now face even more lorries thundering along their roads as household waste is brought to the “silver dome” on the edge of Southampton Water.

Anything from dirty nappies to food packaging could be trucked in from Dorset, West Sussex and even further afield.

It reverses the original planning conditions put in place when waste giant Veolia was given permission to build the burner.

Protesters have predicted that the number of lorries using Jacobs Gutter Lane, the access route, will increase still further– and have warned of more fatalities.

A moped rider and a cyclist have died in the past six months after being involved in collisions on the busy road.

Alan Shotter, chairman of Marchwood Parish Council, said: “Marchwood has been stabbed in the back.

“I’m disappointed but not surprised that it’s been approved because the incinerator is not operating at full capacity.

“Having said it would burn rubbish from Southampton and southern Hampshire the county council is now talking about bringing it in from further afield.”

“The county council has shown a disregard for the people of Marchwood. We’ve got an incinerator, an industrial estate, a power station and a sewage works.

Totton South and Marchwood councillor David Harrison, who appealed for councillors to throw out the scheme, said: “Clearly we will have HGVs thundering along Jacobs Gutter Lane for years to come with all the disturbance to quality of life and safety issues. There will be more fatalities.

He accused the county council of secret plans to increase the capacity of the Marchwood energy recovery facility that last year incinerated 192,000 tonnes of Hampshire waste – and generated 14 MW of electricity.

Richard Read, head of planning for the county council, said: “There will be no change in the capacity of the plant, no change in the number of lorries travelling to and from the plant nor the type of waste.