The lack of interest in this thread is perhaps telling. Irrespective of what anyone thinks is right for Stonehenge, aren't the following realities apparent:
1.) Whatever anyone says and whatever the UNESCO obligations, there's no way the government is going to shell out enough money for a long tunnel or any other solution that would treat the site in the way it deserves.
2.) The remaining options have been drafted in a way that is meant to present the short bore tunnel as the only possibility - even though many will be bitterly opposed and, quite possibly, this too will prove too expensive.
3.) The other options - 3, 4 and 5 are there just to illustrate that they're even worse than the short bore tunnel and thus persuade people that short bore, though deeply regrettable, is the answer.
So what is a poor heritage minded layperson to think or say?
One thing, perhaps. There is weakness in divided opposition. The pointing up of the differing views of the various concerned organizations is a great advantage to the government. "We can't please everyone" may well be the theme that they adopt when they go for the short tunnel. But what if everyone (excluding EH of course who will support what their Whitehall masters ask them to as they always have for the past ten years) simply said Hands Off. If a long tunnel or other non-destructive solution can't be found then leave it alone, warts and all? The main road will clog up progressively, a traffic solution will become utterly urgent but the the appeal of a cheapo solution will have to be weighed against a unified protest movement that will utterly dwarf Newbury. Maybe, just maybe, the money will be found.
I'd love to see Stonehenge sorted. This way I probably won't, as the present mess may remain for decades. But so what, in the scheme of things?
So I think we need a slogan, one that encapsulates the issue and which everyone can agree to. Like Thornborough, the whole landscape should be sacrosanct. Unlike Thornborough, the Stonehenge landscape is defined and known, so a slogan that says something like Hands off the Stonehenge World Heritage Site might do the trick. Everyone would understand that as a worthy national aspiration, anything else would cause a massive and politically damaging furore and there'd be no danger of people being confused about what's at stake.
