Apparently, I get everywhere or at least my campaign does....why do I feel, this is just the start 😆
https://theface.com/society/stonehenge-mass-trespass-government-heritage-site-uk-anti-road-wiltshire
"The Department for Transport published their reasons for building the tunnel back in November. Among them are removing the “notorious bottleneck” from the A303 road “which results in significant time delays and diversions onto less suitable roads.”Anybody that has visited Stonehenge, or lives in the area, will recognize this. The A303 runs from Basingstoke to Devon and passes just next to the monument. It’s a 93-mile dual carriageway that narrows into a single road when it passes Stonehenge and is often jammed with traffic. That skinny part of the road will become a footpath if the scheme goes ahead, with the tunnel being further South and, of course, underground.
It's a long one, but this is my bit.....
“That road is an eyesore for anyone coming into the country,” says Janice Hassett, a local resident from the village of Shrewton. “They’ve come to see Stonehenge and are gobsmacked when they see a busy road with traffic queuing right through the World Heritage Site.” Hassett founded the Stonehenge Traffic Action Group (STAG) in 2013 — a team of local residents and farmers that strongly support the road tunnel proposal.
“These vehicles come into our high street, which has no pavements to speak of; there are cob cottages that are getting ruined by all the traffic, we get litter thrown, not to mention the fumes from the traffic.”
Janice Hassett, local Wiltshire resident STAG’s main aim is to reduce the rat running drivers that cut through the narrow streets of Shrewton and other villages in the area to avoid the busy A303. “All year round, and especially when the schools break up, it is horrendous in our village. There were 169,000 vehicles in August 2019, that’s just one road in Shrewton!”, she explains "and there are 3 other exit/entries". “They come into the high street, which has little or no pavement; there are cob cottages that are getting ruined by all the traffic, we get litter thrown out and all the fumes from the traffic.” Hassett is 70, retired and regularly walks her dog out around Stonehenge. She tells me that people in Shrewton have been trying to do something about it for 30 years. The Department for Transport included this reason in its decision letter too.
David Bullock, the A303 Project Manager from Highways England, hones in on another big driving force behind the project: “It’s based around the transport link. Improving the whole A303 corridor, boosting the local economy throughout the whole South West by having a reliable route,” He says, adding:, “Productivity in the South West is 24 per cent below the national average. There’s an awful lot of suppressed economic growth within the South West. It is constrained by the transport links. You can’t move goods and services up and down that corridor very reliably. This is about the whole corridor, not just our project.”
And the last word from me......"Whether your focus is local, environmental, economical, spiritual or archaeological, one thing is for sure: this is by no means a black-and-white issue. We will find out soon enough whether the road tunnel goes ahead or not. As our conversation comes to an end, Janice Hassett from Shrewton puts it quite lucidly as she says, “Whatever happens, I think it’s going to be a bumpy ride from here on in.”
and that's not me in the piccy by the way!! 😅
No comments:
Post a Comment