SCRAPPING trusts that dish out cash for environmental projects has been branded “stupid, crass and mad”.

Vale of White Horse District Council wants to wind up Joint Environmental Trusts (JETs), which have given tens of thousands of pounds to projects in Wantage, Grove, Faringdon and Abingdon.

Parish and town councils, which also contribute cash to the trusts, will instead be asked to request community grants from the district council.

Ralph Cobham, chairman of Letcombe Brook Charitable Trust, which received cash from the Wantage trust, said: “It doesn’t make sense to withdraw it now and put it on to the town and parish councils to appeal to the district council, only to find it can’t find any money.

“It is stupid, crass, mad, and it is wasting all the good work people have done.”

Mary De Vere, executive member for planning, said the move “will remove an extra layer of administration and provide a more efficient way of working”.