Representation by Hugh Williamson
- Date submitted
- 12 December 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Having until recently lived in the Amesbury area for 4 years, I passed Stonehenge and its related Neolithic remains in the World Heritage Site on many occasions, a superbly uplifting experience, and rightly free to boot. Its removal by planning the building of this tunnel is a national disgrace in my humble opinion.
This tunnel will cause irreparable damage to the whole area, and permanently desecrate the Stonehenge and related relics. This is a world-renowned landscape, acknowledged by UNESCO, and we are responsible for the whole site's preservation in perpetuity.
I understand that UNESCO have stated that your scheme should not go ahead as currently planned, and I appeal to you to respect their advice. Recent behaviour by Highways England workers damaging the Blick Mead Mesolithic site is frankly outrageous.
I was hugely perplexed by there being a paucity of alternative options during the consultation to address how best to bypass the WHS without damaging it.
As someone who cherishes the natural environment, I am hugely worried about the effect this plan will have on wildlife, fauna and flora. Of particular note are the high likelihood of significant disturbance of the site's rare bird species (Stone Curlew and Great Bustard).
Finally, as the world and the UK move to address the inevitable consequences of climate change, spending huge amounts of money on road building is both a travesty and a disgrace.