We were not surprised to learn, late in 2011, that Stopping-up Orders for the eastern end of the A344 (the road that divides Stonehenge from its current visitor facilities) and the B3086 (on the western boundary of the WHS) were approved by the Secretary of State.
This decision flies in the face of damage to the setting of the WHS on its western boundaries that would arise from the associated new visitor-centre and road improvement works. It is symptomatic of the lack of Government’s understanding of what the WHS is, that Roads Minister Mike Penning commented ‘This is an important contribution to improve the setting of the monument and ensure its protection as an iconic World Heritage Site.”
He is presumably unaware that the WHS comprises not only the henge but the extensive, archaeologically sensitive tract of landscape that surrounds it.
Kate Fielding, Stonehenge Alliance
