EH have withdrawn their application to....

This is an e-mail I as the founder of STAG wrote to residents in our village yesterday:

Dear friends,

Thank you for sending your comments/objections to Wiltshire Council regarding the application to extend the coach park by 26 places, plus 50 staff places.   Sad to say, only 11 people bothered to comment from Shrewton, tho' there were many others from out of the immediate area.  We've just heard that English Heritage have withdrawn their application and Wiltshire Council cannot refuse a withdrawal.

This may sound as though we won our corner, however I fear this is just a smoke screen for them to regroup and re-apply with a revised application in another format that may require a Philadelphia lawyer to un-ravel, and they’ll be hoping us country yokels won’t understand.  

We at STAG will keep a weather eye on this one, because 26 extra coach places are not just to accommodate existing coaches who's booking may be put to the right - 10 extra places would have taken care of those coaches having to park themselves around our village and confines.  NO! this is all about money.....a further 26 coach places plus 50 "staff car" parking slots, mean more traffic in our villages and more traffic on that beleaguered A303......and of course......extra money in the coffers for.....English Heritage.....the "new" visitor's centre is already full to bursting on some days!!  

This is the original post if you don't know the story:
Applications have been submitted to www.wiltshire.gov.uk to extend both the
coach park Ref: 14/12106/FUL and the visitor vehicle/car park Ref:14/12107/FUL
Apparently www.english-heritage.org.uk did not envisage such an increase in visitors and as Simon Thurley CEO of EH previously said..."we are a victim of our own success."
Whist we as locals, are pleased that the visitor numbers have increased by 300,000 in the first year, therefore contributing toward the economy of Wiltshire, no provision was made for this increase at the outset when detail for the New Visitor's Centre was conceived, and now we have a situation where more of Wiltshire's rural countryside will be taken up....for them to....as Ian West our Councillor for the area commented "build themselves out of a problem" and we know they will continue to do so!
Everyone agrees.......the Visitor's Centre was built in the wrong place and is too far away from the monument, therefore contributing to the already queueing traffic on the A303. Visits are now taking longer than ever as more artifacts of interest are added, making the previous one and half hour visit, now reaching 2 - 3 hours.
The A344 should not have been closed prior to fixing the A303 as this means, those intending to visit the WHS are now required to remain in the queue all the way to Longbarrow roundabout, which at peak times during the summer months, the extra two and a half miles, can add 2 hours to their journey. While visitors to the Centre try to keep to their time slot, in remaining in the queue, they can see the monument as they pass along the A303.....as I said earlier.....lack of joined up thinking!!!
The present car park is already a blot on the land scape, especially when the sun shines onto cars parked, making a dazzling and distracting eyesore which does not lend itself to our beautiful rural County......so, now they want to extend this for even more cars, a further 26 coaches along with 50 staff vehicles. You can see the plans, comment or object to the foregoing on Wiltshire County's web page under :

Wiltshire Council > Planning Applications > By Planning Number > the two numbers you need are: 14/12106/FUL coach and 14/12107/FUL car, then go to “Make a comment” and if you would like

We're all singing from the same song sheet.....

We're pleased that there are now a number of letters/objections posted onto the "download plans and documents" page of Wiltshire Council's web site. www.wiltshire.gov.uk  They include letters from CPRE Campaign for Rural England, Stonehenge Alliance, Winterbourne Stoke Parish Council and a number from local residents.   This is in relation to the previously mentioned application by
www.english-heritage.org.uk to extend the coach and car parks at the visitors centre, which are already a blot on the landscape on the beautiful Salisbury Plain in the county of Wiltshire.  They say they need a further 26 coach places and 50 staff car places for a temporary period of 2 years and we would like to know what exactly do they mean by 2 years???   They also say they need the car park over spill area to be resurfaced to a more permanent arrangement. .....If this application gets the green light, one wonders if this is the thin end of the wedge and we will be in this same position next year when they ask for further land from the National Trust??   These photos show Airman's Cross, prior to the visitor's centre construction and the now newly named Airman's Corner and what we see now.....

 STAG has already written the following e-mail to Ian Wilson of the National Trust, to see if they can in fact provide an opinion:
Re: EH application Numbers: 14/12106/FUL and 14/12107/FUL
Dear Ian, You will be aware of the above applications to extend both coach park and car park at the SH Visitor’s Centre, and have probably checked the comments/objections page on Wiltshire Council’s web site.    I am pleased that local people have gone to print where most are of the opinion that these extensions should not be allowed and would add to the existing blot on the landscape of our beautiful county, not to mention the increased traffic prior to fixing the A303.   It does appear to us, that EH think they can dictate what happens to this whole area of Wiltshire making further demands to suit their perceived needs and we feel this will not stop here.   Whilst I understand this may be sensitive information, I would appreciate a comment if in fact you are in a position to do so in your capacity as Assistant Director of Operations, National Trust. 

Best Regards Janice STAG: Stonehenge Traffic Action Group 

So! from an uninterrupted view across this part of Salisbury Plain before Visitor's Centre construction........ this is what we see now and is what we mean by a "blot on the landscape"! 

English Heritage say they need the extra coach space to prevent further traffic hold ups on the A360....So, why 26 extra spaces and for a temporary period of 2 years.....what is going on here?.....we have a right to know!!    Why do they need 50 staff car spaces.....if this is for blue badge taxis, the coach park is certainly not a safe place to be allowing guests to alight from any sort of vehicle and to have them meandering around till they get together as a group!

No further extensions or alterations to the landscape should be agreed before the A303 is fixed in what ever fashion!!!! 

Lack of forward planning and joined up thinking.....perhaps?