Stonehenge forum 180 room
Image by Rhiannon
Stonehenge

New Stonehenge road plans

close
more_vert
Littlestone L
Littlestone Feb 3, 2006 16:35:51
Replying to nigelswift

>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.<

Writing in The Independent recently Amanda Brown had the following to say (apologies if this has been posted elsewhere).

"The recovery of one of Britain's rarest birds is under threat if plans to build a road tunnel near Stonehenge are scrapped... The overground alternatives to a tunnel... would destroy nesting and roosting sites of the stone curlew... The stone curlew has two UK strongholds, one of which is the area surrounding the Stonehenge World Heritage Site. The new road plans would also harm prospects for more than 25 other bird species and at least 14 types of butterfly... Tony Richardson, the director of the RSPB's south-west region, said: "A completely new road through the Stonehenge site is unthinkable, not only because of the area's obvious archaeological value but also because of the public outcry it will spark among the millions of who value Britain's wildlife.""

>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.<

I tend to agree Nigel, the conservation and future of both Stonehenge and the Stonehenge area is so complicated that a 'Hands off Stonehenge' approach (at least for the time being) might be the best course of action.

N nigelswift
nigelswift Feb 3, 2006 17:14:53
Replying to Littlestone

I don't know whether a Long Tunnel or a Road Around is best but at this stage any debate about them simply helps the Short tunnel movement by weakening the opposition, which is why I feel "No Short Tunnel" is the strongest call that everyone should make.

Competing interests from the wild lifelobby is something else the bad guys profit from. The RSPB is rather taken with the idea of a lake for migratory birds at Thornborough, as Tarmac never tire of saying (bird flu notwithstanding!) Every time a quarry company digs a hole they give the impression that their main aim is to provide a wildlife habitat.

If it came to a choice though, the Stonehenge archaeological landscape is more important than the wildlife I'd have thought. RSPB and the nature Conservation Trust are pretty clever at creating new environments and reintroducing species. As a lifelong birdwatcher and fanatical lepidopterist I'd cheerfully throttle the Stone Curlews and squash all the grizzled Skippers if in so doing Stonehenge wasn't further messed up.

Harsh but fair.
;)