Ellisfield waste digester given the green light (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Ellisfield waste digester given the green light

5:26pm Thursday 13th September 2012 in Local By Chris Gregory

A PLAN to build a waste digester on a greenfield site near Ellisfield has been approved.

The regulatory committee at Hampshire County Council approved the plan from Barfoots yesterday, paving the way for an anaerobic digester to be built on a 20-acre site in Bushywarren Lane, off the A339, on the Herriard Estate.

The digester will break down farm silage and commercial food waste to generate electricity for 2,000 homes.

Around 20 members of the campaign group, Waste Not Wanted, attended the meeting in Winchester and held up protest placards while councillors discussed the proposal.

Residents from Ellisfield and Councillor Mark Ruffell, who represents Upton Grey and the Candovers at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council , spoke against the application.

They said it went against planning policy, would spoil the countryside and predicted it would cause more congestion to the A339.

But members voted for approval by a majority of nine to four.

After the meeting, Ellisfield resident Mark Thomas, who spoke against the plan at the meeting, said Waste Not Wanted would seek legal advice about challenging the decision.