Update: Test Valley District Group

News from the Test Valley

Since our last update there has been limited planning activity in Test Valley, consultation on the next revision of the Local Plan has been delayed and the nitrates issue has prevented any planning consents for housing.

District group members, including Nick Walton on the critical issue of water, have contributed to the CPRE Hampshire Campaigns Group letter to the applicant, Wheelabrator, putting our strong case against the siting of a large-scale waste to energy incinerator in the countryside near Barton Stacey.

CPRE Hampshire joined forces with the strong and well organised local group Keep Test Valley Beautiful (KTVB) to support them with their well-funded Bin the Incinerator public campaign.

In February, Wheelabrator Technologies announced that they have withdrawn their application although this may be just a temporary respite pending a revised application. See our news release.

CPRE Hampshire is becoming experienced with Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs). We know that these applications by-pass local decision makers and are referred directly to the Secretary of State for a Development Consent Order. In the case of the Wheelabrator incinerator our Campaigns Group have put together a summary pdf, Incinerator Binned! What did we do? CPRE Hampshire summary report March 2020.

The district group has objected to an 80-hectare solar farm near Penton Mewsey, north-west of Andover, on the grounds that it would be on good quality agricultural land and would visually intrude on several very well-used tracks and footpaths.

Another contentious solar farm application, at Woodington, south-west of Romsey, rumbles on with the remaining issue to be decided being the substation to connect the solar arrays to the 132-kV line across the site. The present proposal is to site the substation close to sensitive bat habitat within the Mottisfont Special Area of Conservation which was defined to protect the habitat of the rare barbastelle bats.

Please get in touch if you’d like to get involved with the group.

John Moon john.moon@madasafish.com and
Moya Grove moyagrove@gmail.com
Test Valley District Group