A CAMPAIGNER is demanding the people behindd the failed Abingdon hydro power scheme restore the site to its original condition.

Mike Gould, 67, battled against the project until the developers pulled the plug on it in November.

The Jackman Close resident said Abingdon Hydro’s plans to generate hydroelectric power at the weir had “failed in every way possible” and left an ecological mess. He wants the group to replant the three large trees it chopped down.

He said: “Because the trees aren’t able to soak up the water, that area is being flooded where it never has before. The water has started lapping against the causeway – this whole footpath could fall down.”

Mr Gould said the developers closed the footpath off to hack down trees with chainsaws.

He said: “They offered the timber for free for firewood, which is the last thing you want from an ecological point of view.”

The £1.25m hydro-electric plant on the River Thames, which got planning permission in October 2013, would have seen two Archimedes screws installed at Abingdon Weir.

Abingdon Hydro hoped it would generate up to 100kW of electricity – enough for 120 homes – but pulled out at the last minute after running into cash problems.

Mr Gould said: “It will never be like it was before, but I want the ground cover reinstated so wildlife is protected. I want the boreholes that they dug filled in.

“They have done the complete opposite of what they set out to do, which was to prioritise green energy. They have done exactly the reverse, and in the process spent a lot of investors’ money that could have gone into insulating houses in Abingdon. That would have benefited the community.”

He branded the project “bonkers”.

But Richard Riggs, company secretary at Abingdon Hydro, said: “Before, the weir was overgrown with brambles. We have opened it up so now you can see the river.

“We are talking to people concerned to plant new trees. The boreholes are for checking water levels, which pose no risk to the environment at all. As for the wood, if you don’t burn it, it will rot away and produce methane, which is worse than CO2.”

Mr Riggs said if the scheme had gone ahead, they would have improved the footpath, but had no plans to now.

He said: “This is a public park – it’s not a nature reserve. Parks are not static, they change all the time.

“Mike is very much a one-man band. We have over 400 investors – it’s not as if he deserves equal weight with them. The vast majority of people wanted it to happen.”

Mr Riggs said the eleven directors of the company’s board had a meeting on Monday night confirming the investors – who each put in an average of £2,000 – would eventually be refunded.