Here is STAG's view on the Johnny Come Lately's who, it seems, claim they have not been given the opportunity to have their say......this was sent to news@westerndailypress.co.uk because of this story on 6th March http://www.somersetlive.co.uk/a303-campaigners-brand-stonehenge-tunnel-plans-as-state-sponsored-vandalism/story-30179775-detail/story.html We also sent our view to http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006pfl4
The following is our view to balance the naysayers...In response to Daniel Mumby's article in the Western Daily Press 6th March 2017, and closely following BBC South Today's news item last Friday evening on this subject, I think there should be a much more balanced view, as the current protesters/campaigners seem to be wanting to "slam the stable door after the horse has bolted"! They've had at least 7 weeks to make their views known, in a formal fashion, with www.highwaysengland.co.uk Public Consultation on the process, being in the public domain since the beginning of 2017 with 10 separate presentations.Their statements seem to concentrate on questioning the methods used by Highways England 'to reach their conclusion' claiming the public were given little or no choice in the plans, and not being given enough time to consider. In addition, there are claims of irreparable damage being caused to the World Heritage Site and people's view of the sunset from the monument being ruined by vehicle headlights approaching the western tunnel portal. This kind of bellicosity is extremely unhelpful, and taken in context is misleading, if not ingenuous.
The timeline, as it were, for the whole issue started in 2004 with a public enquiry where alternative routes were first considered, with English Heritage dogmatically insisting that the only option they would endorse would be a tunnel, (and not cut and cover type!). This organisation's view was set in stone in 1986, and has remained inviolable ever since, so we've had 30 odd years of dogma. December 2014, saw David Cameron the then Prime Minister, give the approval for the tunnel to go ahead, and in February 2016 there was a public presentation by Highways England at Amesbury where there was a distinct lack of representation from the parties now "kicking up". It was pointed out at that presentation, that £20m had already been spent on consultations with nothing to show for the money spent. So! for anybody really interested, the information was available!
In terms of the supposed irreparable damage to the WHS, the only possible area we are aware of, would be in the vicinity of the proposed east portal, some distance in the Countess roundabout, Amesbury direction, slightly to the north of the existing route of the A303; one should also remember, the tunnel will be 50 meters underground, so it's unlikely there would be any remains or artefacts to be found that deep...(as previously mentioned in this blog)! For the other western sections of the proposed route, these are outside the WHS so the argument becomes irrelevant.
As regards people's view of the sunset being ruined by vehicle headlights approaching the western portal, this argument is quite ridiculous, that is assuming the northern N1 by pass is used; the only time the sunset comes into this quadrant, approx. 40 degree south west of the monument, is at the winter solstice, and viewed through the stone circle, is seen to be atop Normanton Gorse, a quadrilateral wood, approx. 16 acres at 110 meters elevation, the monument being at 102 meteres, with the ground beyond Normanton Gorse going into a dip, the proposed western portal location. Also, the direction of the proposed (not fixed) road, would be at 10 degrees south of due west and thus pointing at Countess roundabout, and approx. 45 degrees away from the winter solstice sighting from Stonehenge. Highways England, in their Public Consultation Booklet, state "A fundamental consideration for this (western) portal is to locate it beyond Stonehenge's western horizon, so that the tunnel portal is not visible from the Stones. The portal will sit in a natural dip where it will be hidden as much as possible".
Highways England have also advised that the position of the western portal is subject to further investigation as there have been 'recent archaeological finds' with the body demanding this being....English Heritage (in it's guise as Historic England).
So! we and a number of other local people, want these spurious 'theories' debunked, and for those protesters/campaigners to look at the geography, cancel their membership of the flat earth society, and understand that; something has been badly needed to address the inadequacies of the A303 Stonehenge section, which has been for decades, over capacity, leading to numerous RTC's, congestion, poor air quality, and rat-running and for the WHS a diminution in it's potential.
Highways England didn't have a 'blank canvas' for this scheme, and it is to their credit that they have come up with a viable plan after considering all the proposed possible options. It may not be to everyone's liking, but it seems to be the one likely to succeed and it's irksome that at this advanced stage, people and organisations, persist in either using red herrings, or attempting to 'move the goalposts'. We should not be trying, any of us, to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory!!!!
The following are links to further information on this project:
https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.com/cip/a303-stonehenge/supporting_documents/A303_A0planV2.pdf
