Representation by Andrew Rhind-Tutt
- Date submitted
- 11 January 2019
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Dear Sirs, I am the founding chairman of the Amesbury Museum and Heritage Trust, President of Salisbury Chamber of Commerce, and former Mayor of Amesbury. I am also a highways engineer, with senior level experience in road and lighting maintenance. I was elected regional chairman of the Institution of Lighting Engineers 2003-2004 and from 2001-2006 was appointed the senior operations director for the largest street lighting maintenance contract in England. I have served on many planning committees, dealing with large and complicated applications and as a property developer I am a fully qualified, NHBC approved construction engineer which has enabled me to look at planning applications in more than one dimension. My objections to the A303 Stonehenge tunnel proposals include the following: Misleading Consultation – The public were not given the opportunity to choose an alternative to the tunnel, despite a suitable route being offered and were provided with misleading information at the consultation events. Negative / adverse visual impact. The huge portal entrances and masses of additional concrete and tarmac cutting through archaeology at both ends of the World Heritage Site will have a considerable negative visual impact. Detrimental effect of the proposed development on the character of the local area Negative effects on amenity (neighbours and community) due to: • Noise(at Winterbourne Stoke and Amesbury adjacent to the proposed flyover) • Disturbance to the wider community with heavy traffic flows through the Woodford valley and the villages north of the A303 due to the proposed diversionary routes each occasion the tunnel is closed. • Loss of privacy at Amesbury Abbey nursing home and adjacent properties • Nuisance –the nature of the design will adversely impact on the wider locale and wildlife both during construction (significantly) and when complete. Design issues The proposed irreversible construction of a huge (100 year lifespan only) concrete tunnel through a chalk land aquifer will have a detrimental effect on the water table at Amesbury putting at risk the organic archive currently preserved at Blick Mead and affect the River Avon which provides the wet foundations of Salisbury Cathedral. The design lacks detail showing how the water flow will be managed at the end of life of the tunnel. Highway safety – A 3km tunnel on a road which witnesses regular vehicle fires (six of which occurred within five miles of the monument within six months in 2018), with the added risk of terrorism in view of the proximity of the country’s most famous prehistoric monument and a host of other significant scheduled monuments. The makes the scheme a high risk safety concern. Effect of the development on the setting of scheduled monuments at Stonehenge, on the World Heritage Site, the Parkland setting of Amesbury Abbey nursing home, and on Amesbury Abbey as a listed building. Amesbury Abbey, is the home of Blick Mead, Vespasian’s Camp and the resting place of Queen Eleanor of Provence, Queen Elizabeth II’s 20 x grandmother. These points will be developed further in written submissions.