CAMPAIGNERS, business owners and residents have expressed jubilation after county councillors voted down Veolia’s plans for a huge incinerator on the A31 near Alton.

More than 5,500 people made official objections to the plans, which were described by one council officer as “the most controversial” planning application since the 1990s.

Councillors, who objected to the impact it would have on the surrounding area – including the South Downs National Park – and disagreed on whether or not Hampshire truly needed another incinerator, voted against the plans by 12 votes to three on Wednesday, February 23.

After the meeting, elated locals shared their joy at the news.

Lorna Bailey, 54, from Upper Froyle, said: “I’m absolutely over the moon – I really didn’t expect them to reach that decision.

“It goes to show the councillors were listening to our concerns. Especially in Upper Froyle, the smoke from the stacks would blow right over my house; people were planning on moving house because they or people they live with have asthma.

“We have a strong farming community where we live, and that shouldn’t be disrupted by building an incinerator.”

Fellow campaigner Ron Lafferty, 65, added: “The councillors did the people of Hampshire proud.

“When you take a step back from it all, it’s clear this was the wrong place to build it – that’s not nimbyism, it’s just common sense.

“We have to take recycling much more seriously, and burning more waste is not the answer to that.”

For William Butler, proprietor of West End Flower Farm in Froyle, the future of his business depended on the decision.

He said: “I feel elated, absolutely elated – this was the right decision and common sense has clearly prevailed.

“If they had approved the application it would have been catastrophic, the air pollution alone would have put the business into jeopardy.

“We will now have to wait and see what the future holds.”

A spokesman for the No Wey Incinerator campaign group added: “The councillors involved can be proud of their role in preventing Hampshire turning into ‘Dumpshire’, which was a very real possibility if this commercial proposition had been allowed to proceed.

“We would like to thank the thousands of supporters who backed us throughout this two-year campaign and we hope Veolia now realises the rural Wey Valley is not the place for a massive commercial incinerator.”