PLANS to build new waste and recycling sites across East Hampshire were due to be put under the microscope by district councillors this week. More than a dozen potential sites have been identified by Hampshire County Council – and those considered most suitable will go forward to the next stage of consultation as "preferred options" in October. These will be the subject of extensive public consultation in 2008 and 2009. Among the sites which likely to prove most controversial are the Butser Hill Limeworks and the Spaniard Inn off the A3. East Hampshire district councillors were due to make their response to this early stage of the county council plan at a meeting of their development policy panel on Wednesday. Panel chairman Patrick Burridge told The Herald before the meeting: "East Hampshire District Council is really only a consultee, this is a county council function and they hold the key. But if residents in these areas want to make comments they can make us aware or make their comments direct to the county." He stressed that the county had put forward many sites, which were only for discussion at present. In a suggested response by EHDC to the Butser Hill site, senior policy planner Steve Proctor pointed out that the site lay in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and proposed South Downs National Park. It lay beneath the highest point on the South Downs in a fundamentally important area in terms of its landscape setting. "Any adverse impact on the landscape would be a critical consideration. The site lies close to a Special Area of Conservation and a Site of Special Scientific Interest." Buriton parish councillor Maggie Johnson told The Herald: "There is likely to be quite a lot of opposition to this from villagers as there are quite a few issues involved such as the likelihood of increased traffic through the village. I hope there will be widespread consultation before any decisions are made." And the founder of Buriton's Heritage Bank, Doug Jones, agreed the limeworks was a sensitive site: "It has lain derelict for a long while, it could be made better or worse if a lot of factory-type buildings were plonked on it. Any plans would need to be looked at carefully."
