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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 and permanent damage on the Stonehenge World
Heritage Site [WHS] and ought not to be allowed. This exceptional
place has already been much damaged in the past. New 'improvements'
at Stonehenge should not include a road scheme that English Heritage
describes as no more than 'the best we have on offer' and falls far
short of protection and conservation of the WHS.
On the contrary, we believe that the WHS is of such outstanding
international importance that only the right thing should be done in
terms of roads or anything else - even if that means we must wait
until such as this may be achieved.
It is the Alliance's view that the road scheme would be so damaging
to the WHS that it should be rejected. Like ICOMOS-UK, we do not
feel that we should support the scheme for the benefits it would
bring - for those benefits would be gained at too high a price:
substantial and irreversible damage to the WHS and its setting. We
would prefer to see nothing done rather than the damage the scheme
would cause. We would, however, be glad to consider a scheme that
would do no further damage to the WHS and aimed to protect and
rehabilitate the WHS as a whole.
That is why we are here - to argue against the appalling threat that
hangs over this WHS, all the more shocking because those who have
responsibility for its protection are those who would damage the
place and its setting for ever, apparently through lack of full
understanding of the value that is to be placed upon it.
Our message to the Secretary of State is simple. We plead, logically
because of the planning framework that should safeguard it, and with
heartfelt enthusiasm because of its acknowledged significance to
mankind, for the preservation of the Stonehenge WHS for future
generations. We respectfully ask for a stay of execution until a
better solution may be found and we would naturally be glad to
assist in any effort to achieve such a solution."
You can read the Stonehenge Alliance's closing statements in full
here:
http://www.savestonehenge.org.uk/allianceclosingstatement.html
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2. What happens next?
The Inquiry inspector (effectively, a kind of judge who hears and
sums up the evidence) will now go away and write a lengthy report
about the arguments for and against the road scheme. He is expected
to send his report to the Secretary of State for Transport, Alistair
Darling, by September. Mr Darling, the Minister whose own Highways
Agency has been so enthusiastically promoting the road scheme for
the last few years, then gets to make the final decision. Far be it
from us to point out a certain conflict of interest.
Anyway, Mr Darling loves receiving letters, so now is certainly the
time to write to him expressing your views about the proposed
highway. If he gets the message that there is massive international
outrage about this road, he might just change his mind. Please send
your letters as soon as you can.
Polite, well-argued, passionate letters are great, but please don't
send abusive letters or rants.
Start your letter: "I am writing to object to the A303 Stonehenge
Improvement..." and give your reasons. (There are some simple
standard letters on our website Take Action page, but it's much much
better to write something in your own words, however short.)
Rt. Hon. Alistair Darling MP
Secretary of State
Department for Transport
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR
United Kingdom.
Please remember one thing: If Mr Darling gives the go-ahead (and
he's very likely to do so), bulldozers will be rolling into the
Stonehenge World Heritage Site NEXT YEAR. So we must keep the
pressure up.
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3. The Stonehenge Alliance needs your help again!
We've been pleased to work alongside the Stonehenge Alliance in its
campaign to stop the destructive Stonehenge road scheme over the
last few years. The Alliance is the campaign name for a number of
British archaeological, environmental, transport, and Pagan
organizations who have joined together to oppose the highway plan.
The groups include Friends of the Earth, Campaign to Protect Rural
England, Transport 2000, RESCUE (the British Archaeological Trust),
the Pagan Federation UK, Ancient Sacred Landscapes Network, and the
UK Rivers Network.
The Alliance committee have been working incredibly hard over the
last few months during the public inquiry. On your behalf, we'd like
to express our huge public thanks to everyone at the Alliance for
giving up so much time to pursue the case with such passion and
determination; special thanks to Kate Fielden, George McDonic, and
Denise Carlo for putting such a professional case together for the
Alliance.
The Stonehenge Alliance spent 11,000 UK pounds (about 18,700 US
dollars) to fight the Inquiry and has so far raised nearly 9,000
pounds (about 15,300 US dollars) to cover its costs. Most of those
costs went on paying for expert witnesses to present evidence to the
Inquiry. (For example, the Alliance hired Professor Phil Goodwin,
one of Britain's leading transport experts, to help demolish the
Highways Agency's transport and economic case.) That means the
campaign fighting fund now has a shortfall of about 2,000 pounds
(about 3,400 US dollars) that has to be made up so the Alliance can
continue to fight the road scheme in the months and years to come.
Save Stonehenge! has been raising money to help the Alliance through
our website and email list. As of 25 May 2004, our website had
raised about 1,300 pounds (2,200 US dollars) for the Stonehenge
Alliance. If we could raise the same amount again in the next few
months, we can help the Alliance to keep their campaign going!
Can you please help us reach our target? Even the smallest donation
will help us get nearer. If each of our website visitors could spare
just one pound or one dollar, we'd soon get there! We can accept
online donations via credit-card and PayPal or cheques and money
orders. All pound, dollar, penny, and cent we raise goes straight to
the Stonehenge Alliance campaign fund. No-one takes a salary; no
money is wasted.
If you'd like to help, please visit our online donation page:
http://www.savestonehenge.org.uk/donate.html
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road