Representation by Bridget Fox
- Date submitted
- 10 January 2019
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am registering as an objector to the current proposals for the A303 at Stonehenge.
The NNNPS section 5.129 requires that decision makers take into account "the particular nature of the significance of the heritage asset and the value that they hold for this and future generations. This understanding should be used to avoid or minimise conflict between their conservation and any aspect of the proposal."
The current road plans will cause irreparable damage to the Stonehenge World Heritage site, its archaeology and setting, described by UNESCO as a ‘landscape without parallel’. The World Heritage Site is a heritage asset of unique and outstanding value that no road scheme can justify damaging.
The fact that there may be a demand for a new road or other developments in this location is precisely the reason that legal protections from such development are necessary, and precisely why we look to the planning system to uphold them.
If small travel time savings are treated as a compelling reason to override planning safeguards in the case of the World Heritage Site, then protections for national parks and other protected landscapes will become meaningless and no area will be safe.
There are also threats from the proposals to wildlife habitats including the RSPB's reserve for stone curlew breeding, and from the general increase in greenhouse gas emissions, contrary to the requirements of the Climate Change Act, that any significant increase in major road capacity will bring
In addition, while devoting considerable attention to developing these proposals, Highways England has not sufficiently considered alternatives, including a longer tunnel, or traffic management measures, which could relieve the occasional congestion on the A303 without damaging the World Heritage Site.