I wanted to elicit John's views for two reasons. First, I had sensed a perception, rightly or wrongly, in some quarters that, in relation to the A303, John was not being as supportive to his constituents as he might have been. Second, I wanted to get the views of politicians of all hues at local, regional, national and international level, on this issue and have, or will be extending the offer of space on the blog to make their views known.
John very kindly provided the text below - I've highlighted a couple of points that have particular resonance here at WiSBAng and would like to see feedback from readers:
The Stonehenge Traffic Action Group STAG campaign gains momentum and I would welcome the opportunity to set out my views to move forward the case for improvements to our congested local roads.
I toured the long-standing and new bottlenecks around Stonehenge with a member of Amesbury Town Council two weeks ago, met with STAG and a number of and parish council members in Shrewton on 29th September and travelled to County Hall to put the case to the most senior Highways Officer in Wiltshire.
I also raised the matter in Parliament on 10th October 2013 at Business questions.
John Glen (Salisbury) (Con):
The closure of the A344 alongside Stonehenge appears to have caused chaos along the A303. The Stonehenge traffic action group is very keen for the roads Minister to make a statement on progress made towards dualling this infamous stretch of road. Will the Leader of the House ensure that that happens?
Mr Lansley:
I completely understand my hon. Friend’s point. I sat in a queue on the A303 in August, so I had the benefit of that experience myself. I will, of course, ask my colleagues at the Department for Transport about this. As my hon. Friend and the House knows, the Department is well aware of the problem and is seeking to deal with it. I hope that, by the end of the year, it will be in a position to make announcements as a result of its study of the relevant options.
I have also secured agreement for the Minister to visit and was interviewed on Wiltshire Radio about it on 5th October and will be on Spire FM in coming days.
There are clearly immediate issues around signage near Stonehenge that the council has agreed to look into; for example, the current roadside signs directly conflict with sat nav directions, causing a great many tourists to shuttle back and forth between Countess and Longbarrow roundabouts quite needlessly
I think that making the Stonehenge signage far clearer to give first time visitors the confidence to ignore their sat navs will make worthwhile difference and is something that can hopefully now be done fairly quickly. All possible routes to the stones need to be examined to see whether they are optimally signposted.
The bigger issue of the capacity of the A303 is another matter and does not fall under the jurisdiction of the local authority but is a national infrastructure project that is under the spotlight at the moment, with Ministers talking of capital spending once again as part of a series of upgrades to key routes around the country.
The shift from single to dual carriageways causes a great many problems along the entire length of the road and my challenge will be to go ensure that Wiltshire’s case is heard as clearly as that of Somerset’s representatives and ensure that any improvements cover the area around Stonehenge before they get into Somerset.
Dualling or tunnelling under the A303 past Stonehenge has been mooted before and government funding was made available before but that the project finally bit the dust after years mired in costly public enquiries and legal challenges from environmentalists, conservationists and archaeologists.
Much as I place the practical needs of the communities along the A303 first and foremost, I have to accept the political reality that the stretch of the road in my constituency runs through a UNESCO World Heritage Site and therefore any road widening here will be subject to far more international scrutiny and greater likelihood of legal challenge than almost anywhere else.
Furthermore when the costs of ameliorating these concerns are fully set out the case for justifying the expenditure when set against other deserving road improvement schemes elsewhere in the country is an even tougher one to make.
Nevertheless, it is clear to me that our need for improved traffic flow, howsoever achieved, is every bit as urgent as other areas and I plan to make the case as strongly as I can that no money must be spent on the ‘easy’ projects further west until the Stonehenge road issue is resolved. After all, no-one can get there from the east without passing through our overstretched portion of the A303. Repetitious “feasibility” studies which wastefully go over old ground must also be avoided.
To that end, I am pleased to say that, the roads minister has agreed to meet with campaigners from this area – a meeting which I hope will help to convey the strength of locals’ concerns.
I would love to be in a position to deliver a quick and easy solution but, in all honesty, a complex debate lies ahead – one in which my personal views will compete alongside many other concerns – some of which do not share the same assessment of what will be the best solution.
However, I can assure you it is a battle that I am very much ready for and I am engaged in.
Clearly, John has not been sitting on his laurels and has already achieved quite a bit and has more in the pipeline, or planned.
We must now make sure that the opportunity he has created for us to engage with the road minister is fully taken advantage of and that all the interest groups and Parish Councils, etc., from all the villages concerned, are involved in this meeting.
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