<< Sites under Threat >> Stonehenge Newsletter
Submitted by coldrum on Thursday, 07 July 2005 Page Views: 3474
StonehengeCountry: England County: Wiltshire Type: Stone CircleInternal Links:
This is our occasional update on the campaign to stop the proposed new highway through the Stonehenge World Heritage Site in England. Kate Fielden of the Stonehenge Alliance kindly put together this update on the campaign as it now stands The Stonehenge roads and visitor-centre saga is old news but how many of those who will gathered at Stonehenge a couple of weeks ago have any idea of exactly what is planned for the surroundings of this monument?
The A303 Inquiry was held last spring. Environmental organisations and
archaeologists raised strong objections to the Highways Agency's
proposals to dual the A303 with a 2.1km short bored tunnel to bury the
road close to Stonehenge. They dismissed English Heritage's claim that
this was the best that could be afforded, showing that a blinkered
approach towards protection of the World Heritage Site would permit only
the central area to be improved. The road scheme would leave dual
carriageways across two thirds of the World Heritage Site with long
tunnel cuttings deep into the archaeological landscape.
The National Trust, objecting to the road scheme, suggested a slightly
longer bored tunnel -- but conservationists argued that this, too, would
be hugely damaging and unacceptable in a World Heritage Site designated
for the quality and extent of its archaeological remains. Archaeologists
pointed out that ancient sites, deliberately located according to the
topography, would have had meaning for those who passed through the
landscape, seeing them as significant elements of the journey towards
Stonehenge. The road proposals would make it impossible to attempt to
re-create that experience for present-day visitors.
The A303 Inquiry Inspector's report has been with the Secretary of State
for Transport for some months but the only statement from the Department
on the A303 so far has been to redesignate the scheme as a regional one
-- possibly for financial reasons.
In the absence of a decision to proceed on the A303 scheme, English
Heritage has pressed ahead with a planning application for a new
Stonehenge visitor-centre close to Amesbury. Objectors are wondering if
the exercise may be a waste of time and expense, since the
visitor-centre is not viable without the A303 improvements. Access to
Stonehenge via visitor-transit buses from the new centre would require
some 3.5km of roads newly constructed for the purpose. The new roads and
huge, glass-sided bus shelters would be sited within the open
countryside of the World Heritage Site, impacting on the settings of key
monuments and disrupting views of walkers in the wider landscape.
Before the Government imposed financial restraints on the Stonehenge
project, English Heritage and the National Trust were adamant -- as other
conservationists still are -- that only the best would do for Stonehenge.
If the destructive but "affordable" short tunnel scheme is given the
go-ahead, new roads will be driven across the landscape to take visitors
to the Stones. Something is obviously seriously wrong with current
thinking on Stonehenge and if a halt isn't called soon, damage may be
done to the surroundings of the World's most famous monument that can
never be put right. New proposals for road travel charging might be one
of a number of ways to rethink the potential for a very much better way
to rectify, rather than compound this 'national disgrace'."
Stonehenge tunnel cost increases by another 30 million pounds
The government has just revealed that the estimated cost of the tunnel is now
223 million pounds -- up 30 million pounds from the last estimate in 2003. Back
in 1998, government advisors argued that the road, then estimated to cost 125
million pounds, was of only "marginal economic benefit" (i.e. made no sense to
build on purely economic grounds). The Highways Agency, the British government's
road-building department, also conceded this point at the public inquiry. Now
that the tunnel is almost 100 million pounds more expensive, the entire project
is clearly an enormously expensive white elephant -- it's neither a good
solution nor a cost-effective one -- and should be abandoned immediately. There
are rumours in the British construction press that the scheme has now become
baggy and unaffordable, but we wait to see: it has also been revealed that the
construction companies (and their gleaming new bulldozers) are all ready to roll
at a moment's notice if a decision is given to push ahead with the scheme.
What you can do
With growing uncertainty about the Stonehenge scheme, now is once again a good
time to fire off a couple of letters. It doesn't matter if you've written
before, please do WRITE NOW to Alistair Darling and ask him to drop the scheme,
especially if you are outside the UK. There are sample letters you can use on
our website at:
http://www.savestonehenge.org.uk/actnow.html
but it is much better if you can write your own message, however short. Start
your letter with "I am writing to object to the proposed A303 Stonehenge
Improvement..." and then improvise freely, politely, and passionately.
Rt. Hon. Alistair Darling MP
Secretary of State
Department for Transport
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR
United Kingdom.
Tel: From UK: 0207 944 8300 From overseas: +44 207 944 8300
Fax: From UK: 0207 944 6589 From overseas: +44 207 944 6589
Please also write to Britain's National Trust. Point out how very concerned you
are about the damage this scheme could do. Express concern that the National
Trust may be "bought off" and go along with the current scheme. The Trust seems
to be arguing that making the tunnel very slightly longer would sort out all the
problems, ignoring all the other issues people have raised about the current
proposal. As the owner of the landscape around Stonehenge, the National Trust
has the legal power to stop this scheme entirely if it so wishes. We think
that's just what it should do. Please write encouraging the Trust to hold out
for the very best possible scheme for Stonehenge: quick, cheap, and dirty
highway schemes will not do. And, of all places on Earth, Stonehenge is not the
one for a sloppy compromise.
Please write to:
Fiona Reynolds
Director General
National Trust
36 Queen Anne's Gate
London SW1H 9AS
United Kingdom
Fax: From UK: 0207-222-5097
From overseas: International code +44 207-222-5097
Email: [email protected]
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Best wishes,
Chris
Save Stonehenge!
Website: http://www.savestonehenge.org.uk
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