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A Monumental Enquiry for Stonehenge

Submitted by Alun on Wednesday, 07 April 2004  Page Views: 29039

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The Highways Agency has started to outline controversial Government plans to reroute roads around Stonehenge. The proposed scheme costing £192 million aims to remove the busy A303 from the World Heritage Site and instead bore a 1.3 mile tunnel underneath Salisbury Plain.

Objectors believe the tunnel should be longer to "conserve and enhance" the Neolithic site. The road currently gets clogged with traffic during the tourist season.

Some 200 people packed Salisbury's Guildhall on the first day of the public inquiry into the issue, expected to last until April 30.

Independent Inspector Michael Ellison will decide at the end of the inquiry whether or not to recommend the orders to the secretaries of state with or without modifications.

Opening the Highways Agency's case, barrister Charles Calvert said the plan was "no ordinary road scheme". He told the hearing how the site's current setting had been described as a "national disgrace" and the proposed solution was thanks to an "innovative approach" by the Treasury allowing the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to contribute towards the scheme.

Monument keeper English Heritage supports the project while landowners the National Trust, though in favour of a tunnel, want it to be longer in order to better preserve the area.

Objectors due to give evidence include representatives from the Prehistoric Society, the Council for British Archaeology, the Stonehenge Alliance and the British Druid Order.

Chris Jones, project director for the multi-million pound scheme, told the inquiry that the work would take three and a half years to complete and the earliest possible starting date was spring 2005.

Source: The Telegraph

Note: Blue Badge guide calls for raised dual carriageway instead of tunnel - see comment below.
Contributor Bio for Alun: I'm currently working on a PhD thesis.

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"A Monumental Enquiry for Stonehenge" | Login/Create an Account | 19 News and Comments
  
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Re: Apollo and Stonehenge by Anonymous on Tuesday, 07 March 2006
Stonehenge is geodesy survey clock
geodesy lines:
St.Mount Michel
Chartes
Salisbury
Paris
Rouen
Amiens
Aachen
etc. gothic catedral's
greetings: K.K. [email protected]
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Apollo and Stonehenge by Anonymous on Tuesday, 18 January 2005
APOLLO = HORUS=MARDUK
HI!
K.K.
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Apollo and Stonehenge by Anonymous on Wednesday, 10 November 2004
APOLLO = MADRUK
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Newgrange and Stonehenge by Anonymous on Monday, 19 July 2004
Hi!
Winter solstice sunrise line of Newgrange cutting
stone circle Stonehenge.
[email protected]
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Apollo and Stonehenge by Anonymous on Friday, 16 July 2004
Stonehenge is Apollo ( Phoibos ) construction.
Line summer solstice sunrise:
Stonehenge-"Heel-Stone"-Taberg ( rock 343m) Sweden
Line equinox sunrise
Stonehenge- Wasser- Kuppe(850m)-Gerlach(2655m) Slovakia
Line winter solstice sunrise
Stonehenge- Paris-Mont Blanc (4807m)!!!!!!!!
[email protected]
[ Reply to This ]

Apollo and Stonehenge by Anonymous on Friday, 02 July 2004
Hi!
Stonehenge,Newgrange,Aggersborg,Fyrkat is Apollo(Phoibos)
constructions!
[email protected]
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Apollo and Stonehenge by Anonymous on Monday, 05 July 2004
    Ancient technology:Stonehenge,Newgrange,Avebury,Fyrkat,Aggersborg,
    Eskeholm,Trelleborg,Delphi.....is Apollo ( Phoibos ) constructions!
    Apollo ( Phoibos ) god of the SUN.
    Creates crossing line points; equinox,sunrises and sunsets.Solstice and
    equinox lines cut cross in the centre point of the circle which creates
    cardinal of the:
    1. Summer solstice sunrise
    2.Equinox sunrise
    3.Winter solstice sunrise
    4.Summer solstice sunset
    5.Equinox sunset
    6. Winter solstice sunset Hi! [email protected]
    [ Reply to This ]

Comment from Save Stonehenge by Andy B on Thursday, 03 June 2004
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1. Public Inquiry ends
The Highways Agency (the road-building wing of the British
government and one of the the main-movers behind this scheme) issued
thousands of pages of documents about the proposed new highway...
and a wide variety of objectors scrutinized them and pointed out the
problems. The Inquiry ran for about 12 weeks and finally ended on
May 11.

There was worldwide press coverage of the Inquiry. You can read a
selection of the articles on our website here:
http://www.savestonehenge.org.uk/stoneh.html

Kate Fielden of the Stonehenge Alliance has written a great summary
of the Inquiry (thanks Kate!), which you can find here:
http://www.savestonehenge.org.uk/inquirysummary.html

In its closing statement to the Inquiry, the Stonehenge Alliance
summed up many people's grave concerns about the road plan:

"Having followed closely the evidence brought to the Inquiry, the
Stonehenge Alliance's view remains unchanged: the Published Scheme
would inflict severe...

Read the rest of this post...
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Green Party: 4.5km tunnel or nothing by PaulM on Wednesday, 14 April 2004
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SALISBURY Green Party has demanded `all or nothing' to solve Stonehenge's traffic problems.

Supporting Alternative Route Five, which asks for a 4.5 km tunnel through the World Heritage site, Hamish Soutar said his party would prefer that no new roads be built near the monument, but a long tunnel would be the best option if any construction were to go ahead.

Mr Soutar also slammed plans for the Countess Roundabout flyover and a dual-carriageway bypass at Winterbourne Stoke, saying that more time was needed to consider the impact of the schemes.

"The Green Party does not advocate any road construction at Stonehenge," he said.

"Our preferences are, firstly, for Stonehenge to be protected from traffic by the closure of the A303 and A344 through the World Heritage site, secondly, a minimum that only closes the A344, implements safety and traffic restraint measures on the existing A303 and does not involve the construction of a new trunk road, and thirdly, for any new trunk...

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Short-bore "catastrophic" by PaulM on Wednesday, 14 April 2004
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PROPOSALS to allow for a longer tunnel under Stonehenge by scrapping the junction of the A303 with the A360 from Devizes were put forward at the inquiry on Thursday last week.

Dr John Moon said the shorter tunnel proposed by the Highways Agency would have "catastrophic" archaeological consequences in the area of Longbarrow and for the barrows near Winterbourne Stoke, suggesting the tunnel should pass through the area without an interchange.

"I believe that this amazing landscape deserves much better treatment than it is going to receive under the proposed scheme," he said.

"In particular, I am appalled at what it will imply for the western side of the World Heritage site.

"The crux of our proposal is that the interchange at Longbarrow be abandoned and the A360 be allowed to pass over the A303 without any junction."

In introducing Alternative Route Eight, Dr Moon said the Bronze Age barrows were "spectacular and important" but their setting would be ruined by the...

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Re: Stonehenge Alliance by Vicky on Wednesday, 07 April 2004
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From today's Salisbury Journal online (07/04/2004):

"Tourists": protect little barrows

STONEHENGE should remain visible from the A303 and the improved visitor facilities built in their current location, argued Blue Badge guide June Robertson.

Promoting another alternative to the controversial tunnel, Mrs Robertson said the A303 should be turned into a dual carriageway, with part of the road raised over important archaeological remains.

In her plans, Mrs Robertson suggests emergency access and additional visitor facilities, including an archaeology museum that could be housed in arches under the raised road, which would protect a series of barrows.

"I speak on behalf of the tourists who have no collective voice but who provide Stonehenge with its income," she said.

"My plan considers the extra bits at Stonehenge.

"There is a little cluster of round barrows enclosed under the road at the moment.

"If we start digging, they will not be safe.

"I have propos...

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Stonehenge Alliance by Vicky on Wednesday, 31 March 2004
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From the Salisbury Journal 31/03/2004:

Alliance: Tunnel plan is short-term

PROTEST group the Stonehenge Alliance has made an impassioned case against the plans for a dual carriageway and 2.1km tunnel through the World Heritage site, branding it "short sighted" and "short-lived".

The organisation, which is a collaboration of environmental and archaeological groups, said the proposals would leave a deep scar on the landscape and divide the world-famous site in two.

They argued that less than 20 per cent of the new road would be hidden in a tunnel, while the remainder of the busy stretch would be bulldozed at ground level or in deep cuttings, causing damage to other significant monuments.

Last week, the campaigners urged public inquiry inspector Michael Ellison to recommend the shorter tunnel be shelved until funds could be raised for an alternative scheme that hid the road completely.

Opening their case, George McDonic said the Highways Agency proposals were in...

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Archaeologists say 2.1km tunnel is inadequate by Vicky on Friday, 19 March 2004
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From this week's Salisbury Journal and Avon Advertiser (17/03/2004):

Archaeologists: 2.1km tunnel is inadequate

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have branded the government's £200m plans for a 2.1km tunnel under Stonehenge "inadequate", claiming it would bring "irreversible damage to the World Heritage site".

At the inquiry this week, representatives of many of Britain's most respected archaeological organisations echoed the National Trust's demands for a longer tunnel to remove traffic from a larger section of the world-famous beauty spot than the iconic stone circle.

"The proposed road severs the spatial plane, depriving visitors of the ability to experience its connectedness," said Susan Denyer, of the International Council on Monuments and Sites UK.

"Stonehenge was inscribed on the World Heritage list as an entity that has integrity.

"Some parts of the site cannot have greater value than others."

Speaking for the Council for British Archaeology, the Prehistoric Society and...

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Summary of NT evidence on Stonehenge road inquiry  by Anonymous on Wednesday, 10 March 2004
The National Trust today finished presenting its evidence to the Stonehenge Roads Improvement Scheme Inquiry.

The Trust has objected to the proposed 2.1km road tunnel scheme on landscape, archaeological and ecological grounds. During its evidence, the Trust highlighted that four key modifications - including lengthening the tunnel by 800m - would appear to offer significant advantages over the existing scheme in terms of landscape character, noise and visual impact.

The Trust's evidence emphasised that the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and its setting comprise a landscape of extraordinarily high significance for its archaeology and its spirit of place. However, during the past century, human activity and intervention have gravely damaged the prehistoric landscape, and the spirit of place has been spoiled by roads, dismal visitor facilities and the cultivation of crops.

While applauding the government for its desire to pursue a scheme that would rescue Stonehenge from its...

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Deja vu as fog of argument engulfs Stonehenge tunnel inquiry by Anonymous on Thursday, 19 February 2004
Maev Kennedy, arts and heritage correspondent
Wednesday February 18, 2004
The Guardian

Fog buried Stonehenge yesterday. The nose-to-tail drivers grinding past one of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world could barely see the stones, lapped in grey Wiltshire mist. Just down the road in Salisbury, a fog of paper and arguments rose around the monument, as the public inquiry opened into one of the most bitterly contested road development plans in the country.

"This is an opportunity that quite simply must not be lost," Charles Calvert, counsel for the Highways Agency, said in his opening statement. There was a barely audible sigh: most of the battle-scarred veterans in the room have been hearing that for 20 years.

More: The Guardian
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Heritage Link's take on the enquiry by Andy B on Wednesday, 18 February 2004
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Heritage Link reports that the cost of man-hours spent on the Stonehenge Inquiry could well equal the cost of the road proposals itself given the huge commitment of numerous organisations including many voluntary groups which have been working on the proposals for over two years. The Inquiry into the A303 Improvement Scheme opening on 17th February in Salisbury could run until 30 April, with the ministerial outcome being sometime after this. There will be a separate Inquiry on the proposed Visitor Centre.

By the second pre Inquiry meeting held on 26th January, over thirty proofs of evidence had been received by the Inspector, Michael Ellison. Apart from the main parties - the Highways Agency, English Heritage and the National Trust, these include the Council for British Archaeology, The Prehistoric Society, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS UK), the British Druid Order, as well as a wide range of regional and local bodies, the Wiltshire Archaeological and...

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Re: A Monumental Enquiry for Stonehenge by Anonymous on Wednesday, 18 February 2004
I read in my paper today that Stonehenge was to have both roads going passed it removed by using a tunnel and that there is a dispute over how far that tunnel should extend. Any outer laying links should be preserved, but more importantly there should still be paths going along the same tracks as before. Not congested roads, but simple tracks that would have been used for a long number of years by travellers. My feeling is that the flow of energy going passed the site is important and must be maintained or Stonehenge will be stifled.

Does anyone else feel this?

Anon 18/02/2004
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Re: A Monumental Enquiry for Stonehenge by Andy B on Sunday, 15 February 2004
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More: The National Trust's input to the enquiry
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Stonehenge Public Inquiry starts on Tuesday by Andy B on Sunday, 15 February 2004
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A public inquiry into the planned redevelopment of roads around Stonehenge is due to open on Tuesday.

Under the proposals, the A303 would be widened and re-routed under the stones in a 2.1km bored tunnel, a scheme supported by the government.

The National Trust says it supports the tunnel idea, but wants it to be longer.

It is concerned about plans to site exits on "archaeologically sensitive ridgelines" and says the landscape would be impacted by traffic.

Martyn Heighton, from the Trust, said: "The inquiry needs to consider whether the proposed tunnel is long enough to conserve and enhance Stonehenge's spirit of place, landscape and archaeological interest."

Under the proposals, a Bronze Age earthwork which formed the ceremonial approach to the stones would be severed by the A303, claims the Trust.

Work will start by 2005 if the scheme is approved.

Story from BBC NEWS
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