Has the Highway Agency Lied To The Public on Twitter?

Back in May, we raised a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Highways Agency on the "What Do They Know" website.  As we've said before, we think this is the best way of raising FOIA requests as it usually acts as a spur to keeping the recipients honest and they usually take a bit more care in answering, as mistakes are in the public domain and they risk being humiliated by a public correction, or having downright lies exposed.  This doesn't seem to work in the case of the Highways Agency.

We asked them to list the times and dates of apparent failures of the traffic camera on the A303 at Solstice Park, Amesbury, as it seemed that the camera was frequently out of service when the traffic levels on the A303 were greatest.  Rather than raise this as an unfounded suspicion, we wanted to have factual information (as it turned out, our suspicions about camera failure were unfounded, but we haven't yet established if the camera is ever deliberately turned off!).

Imagine our surprise when we received the following response:

...I refer to your request under the above legislation for information about failure of traffic cameras on the A303.

I can confirm that we do not hold the information. We believe that, as this is a safety camera operated by Wiltshire Police, the information you require may be held by Wiltshire Police. If you have not already done so, you may wish to contact them...

Now, we knew that this was complete cock-and-bull, but we played the game and re-sent the FOIA request to Wiltshire Police, who responded as we expected, pointing out that the police unit responsible for static cameras closed in 2010.  So, back to the Highways Agency we went and asked for an internal review of their original answer.

This time, we got the following response and somewhat half-hearted apology:

"...I am writing to confirm that I have now completed an internal review of our original response to you, which you requested on 30th May.

It appears that we were mistaken in our first response to you and that the Highways Agency has responsibility for the camera in question. Please accept my sincere apologies for the misinformation and any subsequent inconvenience this has caused..."

This isn't the first time that they have answered our FOIA's incorrectly - the level of incompetence for a Government Agency is simply astounding.

Over the last few days, in the run-up to Summer Solstice 2014, we at STAG have been monitoring traffic levels on the A303 and one of the strands of this is to monitor, when possible, the Solstice Park camera.

From midweek, the camera has been out of service and it was definitely out of service last night, showing the typical failure notice:

Imagine our surprise, when we awoke very early on Solstice morning, to see the following Twitter-feed from the Highways Agency:

Poetic, wonderful, atmospheric, the Amesbury webcam was clearly fixed in time for the Solstice dawn.  We are sure the English Heretics would have been delighted by the plug.

Well, actually, no.  The camera was still unavailable the second the tweet was published.  So, are the Highways Agency lying through their teeth about watching the sunrise through the Amesbury webcam, or, are they are lying through their teeth about the camera being available and deliberately suppressing the feed?

Superficially, and in the greater scheme of things, if the Highways Agency are lying, this might seem a fairly trivial untruth.  However, it is information, being put in the public domain on behalf of the Government.  In effect, if true, it's the Government misleading the people.  If they can't be trusted over something as trivial as a webcam feed, how can they be trusted when it comes to something more important regarding the A303 - the current feasibility study for improving it for instance?

Let's just say we are unhappy, a wee bit vexed.

Agencies like the Highways Agency should be answerable to the people and we hope that our MP, John Glen, will seek answers from the Highways Agency on our behalf.

One Law For English Heritage And Another For The Rest Of Us?

Here at WiSBAng we don't really like to keep having a go at English Heritage over the premature closure of the A344 and the consequent and oh-so-often predicted traffic chaos that has ensued.  Not only has this crass act contributed to increased congestion on the A303, it has proved a nightmare for local villages and other minor routes for miles around.  However, despite our intentions, English Heritage have an uncanny habit of opening their mouths and sticking both feet in!

This weekend sees the Summer Solstice and the weather forecast, for once, seems to be fairly reasonable.  Last week, Wiltshire Police and English Heritage were predicting that the crowds might reach 30,000.  Today, the Highways Agency were quoted by BBC South as saying that they expected and additional 35,000 vehicles on the roads around Stonehenge.  Either someone is wrong or the Highways Agency have been misquoted, but I think it's safe to say it might be busy.

Today, I cycled up to Stonehenge to see what was going on in preparation for the Solstice.  My main reason was to see if I was going to be challenged whilst riding along what used to be the A344, which, despite English Heritage's protestations, remains open throughout the Solstice period for anyone who wants to walk, ride a bike, ride a horse, drive a horse and cart, or drive an invalid carriage along it.  I wasn't challenged today, but I suspect that might be a little different of Friday afternoon or Saturday morning.

There was lots of activity east of the visitor's centre where the Solstice carparks are being prepared - with an estimated capacity of 6,500 vehicles.  Now, I was always a bit of a duffer at maths, but even I can work out that isn't going to make much of a dent in the extra 35,000 vehicles on the local roads.

I rode down to Byway 12 to see what was going on there and was, I have to say, impressed that the old visitor's centre has largely disappeared and that a proper turning circle has been built for the land train and coaches.  I was even more impressed that the land trains were able to turn round in it, given they are not renowned for having a good turning circle.

Now, today was the day that Wiltshire Council's Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) for the Summer Solstice came into force.

It applies to ALL vehicles, except those of the emergency services.  The restrictions imposed by the TRO includes vehicles owned and operated by English Heritage and their contractors - it is a blanket ban on the use of Byway 12.  English Heritage, far from setting a good example and keeping off Byway 12, clearly feel that the law of the land doesn't apply to them.

Despite having a nice new turning area, some of the EH drivers can't be arsed to use it.

All our photos are date/time stamped should Wiltshire Council/Wiltshire Police choose to prosecute. 

Some English Heritage drivers are playing the game, and using the new turning, as this photo shows:

The coach beyond the land-train is obviously doing the right thing.  However, another coach pulls up on the right and...

...the driver leaps out for a crafty fag (a quick note to our US readers - a fag, in this context, is slang for a cigarette!).  Unfortunately, he has his back turned to the prominently displayed TRO notice posted at the entrance to Byway 12.   Of course, he could use the turning circle but no...

...he also drives onto Byway 12 in breach of the TRO to turn round.

If anyone is unfortunate enough to contravene the Wiltshire Council TRO, on foot, with an animal, or in any form of vehicle, during the Solstice period, then we will happily provide time-stamped copies to help them mount a defence - it doesn't seem right that anyone should be fined for doing something that English Heritage are doing multiple times an hour. 

Alternatively, to a Wiltshire rate-payer, prosecuting English Heritage for each and every infraction of the TRO - that's twice in 6 minutes, 20 times an hour or 160 times during an 8 hour day at £1,000 a pop.  That's a cool £160,000 a day, or £800,000 for the planned Solstice closure - could seem a very attractive proposition!