Over the last few weeks I have heard several people complaining about heavy-handed English Heritage staff at Stonehenge attempting to prevent pedestrians and cyclists using the section of the A344 that runs from Airman's Cross to the Junction with Byway 12. Rather than argue the rights and wrongs, I thought I would simply publish a copy of the Traffic Regulation Order that was implemented by Wiltshire Council. Please click to enlarge and read it for yourselves. It makes quite clear that the restrictions ONLY apply to motor vehicles. There are NO restrictions on pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders and invalid carriage users and they should have the same rights of access to this stretch of highway/byway as they always had, prior to the TRO.
I would suggest that you take a copy of this with you, should you decide to have a walk, or a ride! Take a spare copy or two to give to any numpty's you encounter!
The situation between Byway 12 and Stonehenge Bottom on the A303 is a little less clear. The Stopping Up Order seems to have been intended to remove all highway rights, except for the likes of BT, to use the path of the A303, with the land on which the A344 stood returned to the relevant land owners. This means, I suppose, that English Heritage own the southern side of what was the A344 and the National Trust (with their policy of Open Access) the northern side. HOWEVER, English Heritage are well aware of the condition sof the planning consent for the new visitor's centre:
"We would note that the commitment to provide a permissive route between Stonehenge Bottom and Byway 12 is a requirement of the Section 106 legal agreement signed by the National Trust, DCMS, EH and Wiltshire Council."
This should have been constructed and commissioned before the visitor's centre was opened - see the previous post for more details.
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