=
×

Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

Head To Head
Log In
Register
The Modern Antiquarian Forum »
Stonehenge »
New Stonehenge road plans
Log In to post a reply
24 messages
Topic View: Flat | Threaded
andy worthington
25 posts

Re: New Stonehenge road plans
Feb 09, 2006, 23:21
Hi all. Just catching up, and glad to see all the discussions. I have to say that I'm finding it hard to figure out what English Heritage and the Highways Agency are up to. The short bored tunnel proposal met with almost universal cricitism from so many different parties (including the National Trust) that I can't really see it being resuscitated, and the cut and cover proposal is, of course, even less appealing, and would attract even more criticism from respectable organizations (NT included again) as well as providing an extraordinary focus for direct action.
Another thing to bear in mind is that the dualling option is less important than it used to be. There was a time when the whole of the A303 was supposed to be dualled because it was some kind of European Trade Route, but that all went out of the window when Alistair Darling backed down on plans to dual part of the road further west in Somerset (last year? the year before?) Add to this the pressure that can - and will - be exerted by the environmental groups that are part of the opposition to inappropriate development (and who will start talking about how we may be nearing the point of maximum road traffic), and I think there's a strong message to be put out that, if the long bored tunnel option isn't economically possible, then all the plans to date should be ditched, and some fresh ideas introduced.
But for now: no short bored tunnel, no cut and cover, better the devil you know...
All the best,
Andy

Andy is the author of Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion (Alternative Albion, 2004), described by SchNEWS as 'by far the best bit of modern British social history I've seen', and the editor of The Battle of the Beanfield (Enabler, 2005), described by Professor Ronald Hutton as 'probably the definitive work on its subject, something very rarely achieved in practice'.
http://www.andyworthington.co.uk
In reply to:
Re: New Stonehenge road plans (FourWinds)		 Replies:
Re: New Stonehenge road plans (moss)
Topic Outline:
The Modern Antiquarian Forum Index