Representation by Simon Norton
- Date submitted
- 11 December 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
The proposals include dualling the A303 through the World Heritage Site of which Stonehenge forms a part, which will cause major damage thereto, as has been underlined by a UNESCO report.
Dualling will encourage traffic growth on the A303 corridor. In particular it would encourage its use for journeys between the London & SE England and the West Country which could be made by the M4 and M5. This route includes the section of the A303 through the Blackdowns AONB. While dualling of this stretch is not in the existing programme, there would be pressure to add it even though this would damage the AONB.
The proposed scheme is designed without consideration for the needs of public transport users along the corridor, which discriminates against people without access to cars. In particular it does not help to relieve the existing problems faced by public transport users who wish to visit Stonehenge without paying the premium fare charged on the existing tour bus, which forms the only existing public transport access to Stonehenge.
I have an alternative proposal which would get round all these problems and also save money. It would involve a single carriageway tunnel together with a park & ride facility at Amesbury and a bus only road linking this and Amesbury town centre with the existing Stonehenge visitor centre via the site of the stones themselves, together with further developments which would facilitate the provision of buses to serve other points on the A303 corridor. The Winterbourne Stoke bypass element of the current scheme would be included, but as a single carriageway route.