Stonehenge and its Environs forum 134 room
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nigelswift wrote:
... We'll hear that shortly no doubt.....
My guess is that you will. Not sure it's quite as dirty a game as you imagine, especially for the consultant teams.

There's a set of rules that have been established and everyone will be working to those rules. Personally, I think that Stonehenge will prove to be have far more value than can be proven to the satisfaction of archaeologists at this point in time, so what we do now may be thought to be a mistake by people in the future.

However, as the "archaeo 21" note, nothing much happens very fast in archaeology and we're dealing with a highways system that, whilst very slow compared to ordinary business, is very fast in an archaeological sense.

My guess is that the "archaeo 21" are the best hope objection: Their submission alludes to new knowledge which was not accounted for in the consultation. If the archaeos can prove that their new knowledge materially affects the value of the monument/WHS (value as measured by the consultants), then they will have a compelling argument.

jonmor wrote:
My guess is that you will. Not sure it's quite as dirty a game as you imagine,
I wish I believed that but I take the introduction of Advice No 2 "Works other than those of a minor nature are likely to be acceptable only where they would be in the best long-term interests of the conservation of the remains or there are other important planning justifications” as the Government reserving the right to ride roughshod over protected landscapes if it feels like it by citing "important planning justifications". Sounds pretty much like "never mind the Rule of Law, we'll rule by decree when we feel like it and these Guidelines are for show only".