Dec 15 2009
What’s happening with Stonehenge road closure?
 Pic: cenz |
Six months ago, the BBC reported that the A344, the road running alongside the stones of Stonehenge, could be closed down. The decision should be made at the end of this year. Has anyone heard what is going to happen yet? |
The original BBC article said:
A road which runs alongside Stonehenge could be closed under proposals drawn up to protect the site’s future. Shutting the A344 where it runs next to the stones, in Wiltshire, is one of the plans being considered to protect the landmark’s World Heritage Site status.
It comes after a £540m tunnel scheme for a 1.3mile (2.1km) section of the A303 was scrapped due to high costs. A decision on the proposed closure will be made by the end of the year following a three-month consultation.
People are also being asked to have their say on whether the Stonehenge visitor centre should be redeveloped or moved. Four possible new sites have been suggested.
Government and English Heritage
The Government and English Heritage, which have drawn up the proposals, believe closing the A344 at its junction with the A303 would allow the site to return to grassland, improving the environment around Stonehenge.
Lord Bruce-Lockhart, chairman of English Heritage, said:
Stonehenge is the greatest achievement of prehistoric culture anywhere in Europe.
It is inconceivable that the inadequacies of the site should be allowed to continue any longer.
With political will and financial commitment I believe the Government can achieve a breakthrough this time.
Margaret Hodge, culture minister, said:
Stonehenge is one of the UK’s most recognisable landmarks and it’s important that we preserve it so that future generations can enjoy its mystery.
Ms Hodge added that the consultation would give
everyone the opportunity to have their say about the future of one of the world’s most important sites.
It is also hoped that an improved visitor centre will be in place by 2012.
Exhibitions of the plans will be on show throughout July at sites in Wiltshire and London.
The original article can be found on the BBC website.
The planning application has been put in, the public consultation period is over and a decision is expected before January 12 2010.
The full plans are available here:
http://www.salisbury.gov.uk/planning/development-control/planning-applications/2009/1527/application-details.htm
It will probably be challenged by one or more groups, which’ll add yet more delay. Local opposition groups to the plans are very vocal, whereas supporters of the plans tend to be quieter. Some of the locals want the A303 to be dual-carriagewayed on its existing route through the World Heritage Site and for the existing visitor centre to be redeveloped in situ – both ideas that are absolute non-starters for all manner of reasons.
I sincerely hope that the currently submitted plans get the go-ahead – it will be an improvement on the current situation and once the logjam has been broken perhaps other options for relieving the weight of traffic on the A303 will present themselves.
There are plans afoot to put traffic lights on Countess Roundabout and limit the A303 speed to 40mph on its approaches (instead of 70) in an attempt to improve traffic flow. Not that that’s any kind of solution, but wasting money on eliminating cheap solutions one by one before biting the bullet and doing what’s right seems to be the way decision making proceeds, sadly.
Above all, Amesbury needs to learn to love the Stonehenge narrative in the same sort of way that Glastonbury loves the Arthurian/Pagan narratives – otherwise it’ll be condemned forever to more of the kind of mindless development that has seen huge swathes of pristine chalk downland on its margins reprofiled for regional distribution centres and industrial estates no-one wants to use and housing estates with no infrastructure that no-one wants to buy.
Well, you did ask
That is absolutely brilliant – thank you!
I did not expect such a comprehensive response to my question and I am truly grateful for your time and efforts – thank you
Having driven on the 303 and other roads in the area, my memory is telling me that they are narrow, often straight and drivers tend to take them far too fast. As a driver intensely interested inthe countryside around Salisbury, I found myself often cursing the traffic flow as preventing me from seeing much of the countryside around me.
Your last paragraph is so well stated and succinct that I could not do better than to simply say: well said! There does seem to be a reluctance by the locality to embrace the globally unique wonder that is Stonehenge (and its environs). Shifting persepctive to welcome and enhance tourism and archaeological education is, to me as a naieve outsider, a major income stream for the area!
Yep, you’re right, I did ask but I’m damn glad you answered