Wiltshire Archaeological And Natural History Society

Stonehenge Master Plan

Position Statement

July 1999

1. We welcome the aims of English Heritage and the National Trust to conserve and improve the environment of the World Heritage Site and its internationally outstanding complex of monuments; to reduce the impact of the A344 and A303; relocate visitor facilities to the edge of the World Heritage Site; and to provide a park-and-ride transport system.

2. We recognize that the 'Master plan' seeks to address a number these aims. We believe however, that it neither meets the strict management and conservation requirements of the World Heritage Site and its archaeology, nor provides a satisfactory solution to the interrelated problems of road traffic and visitor access and movement within the World Heritage Site. The assumptions set out in the 'Master plan' have not been the subject of the open debate and we therefore believe that the plan should be revised in the light of issues raised since it was published in September 1998.

3. In our view, the Stonehenge World Heritage Site management plan, announced in October 1997, should precede all other plans and be fully consulted upon and agreed with UNESCO, before any substantial actions are taken concerning the future of the World Heritage Site.

4. We consider it premature to solicit tenders for the construction of a new visitor centre when logistical problems relating to the timing of road and visitor centre construction, visitor capacity and transportation within a landscape vulnerable to erosion, and over visiting have not been fully considered let alone resolved. We further believe that the visitor centre should be the subject of a public inquiry within the context of an agreed management plan for the World Heritage Site.

5. We also consider it premature to have announced proposals for the A303 ahead of an agreed management plan and note that these proposals are a) not in harmony with most of the resolutions of the 1995 A303 Planning Conference, and b) do not respect Government guidance on planning, archaeology and World Heritage Sites, local planning policy or the World Heritage Convention.

6. We are concerned that the proposals for the A303 and A344 are currently oriented towards improving the immediate environment of the henge for visitors at the expense of the landscape and archaeology of the World Heritage Site as a whole. The scale of damage which would result from the implementation of a cut-and-cover tunnel and associated road and landscaping works, including the eventual construction of improved junctions at Countess and Longbarrow, now places the World Heritage Site under serious threat.

7. We note that these concerns are shared by an increasing number of organisations with wide ranging interests.

8. We therefore ask HMG to obtain an independent study, including costings, for a long bored tunnel for the A303 -- both single and dual carriageway, so that realistic comparisons of costs may be made; and to make every effort (with our assistance, if that would be helpful), to seek funding outside Government departments to pay for what has long been agreed to be the best and only workable solution in terms of protection and future management of the World Heritage Site.