Meeting the Minister - A Positive Step Forward

On Monday 3rd August 2015, Stonehenge Traffic Action Group, together with a raft of other stakeholders, were invited to attend a round-table briefing in Amesbury with Andrew Jones MP on the state of play regarding the A303/A30/A358 corridor upgrade plan.

Andrew, in addition to being the MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, is a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Transport with the dubious honour of having the brief to deliver the road investment strategy.  He can't help being a Yorkshireman and from the "wrong" side of the Pennines.

The meeting didn't begin to auspiciously.  Before the Minister arrived, I was accosted by a member of Amesbury Council, who pompously announced that this meeting was very much focusing on Amesbury and the Amesbury end of any road improvements.  As I say, he was a member - of the council.

Thankfully, this wasn't the case, with the Minister making quite clear that he was discussing the entirety of the Countess Roundabout to Berwick Down section of the A303 scheme. 

The meeting demonstrated that most parties understand the vital need to improve the A303, that it is part of the larger corridor plan and to fail to deliver the Stonehenge section would mean the whole strategic plan would fail.  Failure, this time, seems not to be an option - but we've heard similar assurances in the past.

A consensus is building that something has to be done, which in a way is a major step forward.  Stakeholders, STAG included, are holding bilateral meetings with each other to ensure that there are no surprises and issues are dealt with early.  

What were the key points emerging from the meeting?  Well, although there has been much talk of tunnels, nothing is yet set in stone.  Highways England are looking at all the options previously considered, eliminating those that have little chance of success and focusing in on the best option.  They will submit this and all the other information as part of the Development Consent Order process, which replaces a Public Inquiry.  The re will be an examination of the facts and figures in public, but their is no adversarial element to the DCO process.  This process has already begun and should take 5 years to complete.  It clearly involves a heck of a lot of work and Highways England expressed a wish to engage with stakeholders throughout this process.

A lot of key issues were raised.  Perhaps the most important for all locally was what happens between now and when any project comes to fruition.  A lot of the discussion focused on the need to improve both the Countess and Longbarrow roundabouts - neither of which are allowing traffic flow during peak periods and the tailbacks encourage rat running.  The minister seemed to take that on board, though time will tell if they achieve anything.

As far as the Longbarrow to Berwick Down section went, they are focusing on the northern route (ie north of the current A303).  Those representing Winterbourne Stoke pointed out that we expected a lot more consideration being given to sound-proofing the section that ran across the Till valley to protect the village from road noise.  It was noted that the previous scheme involved raising the road on a causeway - bizarre given the history of the River Till - which was no longer acceptable.  It had been done to try and get rid of a lot of the spoil from the previously planned tunnel.  We raised the issue of the phosphatic chalk discovered along the possible tunnel route and the suggestion that disturbing it might release radon.  It was clear that both Andrew Jones and Highways England were well aware of this and they commented that appropriate ways of disposing of such material would need to be found.

The only question that Highways England didn't answer, in fact they were told NOT to answer it by Andrew Jones, was one we asked for information.  We asked how deep the tunnel might be, below ground level, at two points:  Stonehenge Bottom and at its closest predicted point to Stonehenge itself.  We indicated that at this early stage, we weren't after specifics; just a general indication of depth - were we talking a metre, 10 metres or 100 metres.   Given that Highways England have been talking about a tunnel 2.9km long - not 2 to 3 km but 2.9km, we do find it a little bit odd that they aren't prepared to give a similarly important estimate on depth at this stage.  At the end of the day, the depth of the excavation for the tunnel roof is going to be the measurement that is going to have to be defended the most in terms of the probability, or not, of damaging as yet undiscovered buried features.  Like the tunnel length, this sort of discussion is best started early, so at least the most specious arguments are rapidly surfaced and dismissed.

The only note of dissent came from Amesbury Abbey, in relation to how Highways England might change the Countess Roundabout as part of the overall scheme.  The suggestion was that the A303 would cross above the A345 at a raised level.  The objection here was that this would increase sound levels experienced by elderly residents of Amesbury Abbey.  A rational concern, but one which could surely be alleviated by careful screening and road surface selection?  Like many of the possible concerns, lets get them out in the open now, identify solutions and move on.  Throwing Teddy's in corners will get us nowhere fast.

We all know it isn't going to be easy; there are a lot of vested interests.  There are some for whom no compromise is acceptable and yet compromise we must have - the transport needs of the living and for generations yet to come have to be balanced with the need for preservation of things built by generations long dead, and quality of life has to be balanced with improved access to part of mankind's rich heritage.  It's a huge, huge ask, but we are prepared to play our part in building the consensus that is needed to make this work.

It rather begs the question, dear reader.  Are YOU?

Easter Hell Predicted For the A303

Oh great British travelling public.  Consider yourselves warned.  Just don't come this way this Easter.  The A303 is predicted to be the number one traffic blackspot in the UK.

If you do ignore all the advice, then be prepared to camp in your cars for the holiday.

Dan Snow, The History Man, Spouting Nonsense As Fast As He Can!

Oh dear, what a performance.  Back on Tuesday, 17th March 2015,  the Stonehenge Alliance (aka the Stonehenge Aliens), a somewhat befuddled collective of the well-meaning, but easily confused,  pitched up at Byway 12, near to Stonehenge, to launch their campaign and showcase their tame celebrity - Dan Snow, the History Man.

 
Now whilst there were a few journalists around to witness events, the biggest Press presence was that of the BBC in the form of Paul Clifton, BBC South Today's traffic correspondent and local resident with a camera crew.  Now it must be said that Paul has been scrupulously impartial in his reporting of issues surrounding the A303 at Stonehenge; often to the frustration of us members of STAG.

I was curious to understand the ethics of the BBC interviewing Dan Snow - who seems to do rather a lot of TV and book work for them.  That's perhaps a point for others, particularly BBC management, to ponder.  Perhaps, to restore confidence in their impartiality, they might want to consider getting Jeremy Clarkson and the Top Gear team to do a bit of off-roading through the World Heritage Site (WHS)?  Then again, given the current fuss about Jezza, perhaps not...

...but Captain Slow and the Hamster would suffice!

If you want to read a bit more about the nonsense Dan Snow and the Stonehenge Aliens were putting forward during his interviews, you can read it here on our sister blog for the Stonehenge Traffic Action Group. The key message seems to be that they want to persuade UNESCO to put pressure on the government to abandon plans for a tunnel under Stonehenge.  Indeed, Dan Snow was, apparently, pushing the line that he would prefer to leave the A303 in its current undualed state past Stonehenge rather than put it into a tunnel that might at least remove a view of the road from a large part of the WHS and achieve one of UNESCO's aims for the WHS.

Part of the problem when talking to the Stonehenge Aliens is that they can't seem to come up with a collective story about what they actually want.  Some want to remove the A303 entirely from the WHS landscape, others want to ban a tunnel at all costs for fear it would: alter the water table, cause Stonehenge to sink into the ground/fall over, attract aliens, cause Salisbury Cathedral to flood, add to global warming and increase the cost of cheese.  Please delete or add to these scare stories as appropriate.  A few of them seem to support the idea of a dual-carriageway tunnel, providing it starts and ends outside the WHS.  However, few of the latter have thought through their argument.  Whilst the present WHS has clear boundaries, some leeway should be given to the possibility of further, related,  archaeological discoveries beyond the present confines of the WHS; particularly between the two geographical features that define the sitelines to the east and the west - Beacon Hill on the Hampshire/Wiltshire border and Little Down, west of Yarnbury Castle where Salisbury Plain falls away towards Deptford - we'll come back to this a bit later.

 Living in Winterbourne Stoke, the NIMBY in me says that I too would prefer to remove the A303 from the landscape - either by routing it miles to the north, or stuffing it into a very long tunnel that goes under the village and Stonehenge.  Unfortunately, many in the Stonehenge Alliance are so fixated on preserving the past, that they cannot entertain the needs of the present or the future.  Nor can may of them contemplate the need for pragmatism and compromise - nor cost.  Whilst the Chancellor might have announced that austerity was over in yesterday's budget, he didn't mean he had a bottomless purse to improve the A303.

It's perhaps worth raising a few key points here.  First, the Stonehenge Alliance are objecting to a plan that doesn't yet exist in any real detail.  All we know so far is that the government have set aside £1.3 billion for a tunnel, which they suggest would be a minimum of 2.8km (1.8 miles) long.  That sounds a lot of money, but when you consider the Lærdal Tunnel in Norway, currently the World's longest road tunnel at 24.5km , cost only £150 million between 1995 and 2000 - then £1.3 billion might buy a bit more than 2.9 km of tunnel!

Second, UNESCO love tunnels - Fact.  Only two sites in the world have ever lost WHS status.  One in Oman which was de-listed at the request of the Omani government and the second was in Dresden in relation to a site near the River Elbe.  The Dresden authorities wanted to improve the flow of traffic over the Elbe, UNESCO were against a bridge and proposed a tunnel instead, the Dresden authoriies stuck two fingers in the air and built the bridge anyway.  As a consequence, UNESCO finally delisted the WHS in June 2009.  So, the good news is, it's hard to see how UNESCO could possibly favour leaving the current A303 in the WHS, when even a short tunnel could improve the landscape.

Third, if by some chance Stonehenge Alliance kick up enough of a fuss to gain UNESCO attention and overturn UNESCO's preference for hiding obtrusive roads underground, then UNESCO may choose to make the threat of removal of WHS status - it could happen.  The next UK government, sniffing the prospect of a massive cash saving, may be tempted to call UNESCO's bluff and get the Stonehenge WHS de-listed.  A massive own-goal for the Stonehenge Alliance and a slap in the face of STAG and the local population who wish to both improve the current road situation and conserve the WHS.  No doubt the Aliens will point out that the land either side of the A303 is owned by the National Trust and is inviolate.  That is true.  It is equally true that a determined government, even a coalition, could overturn such protection for the greater good of the nation and build an on-line dual carriageway.  Now whilst such a cheap and cheerful option would be very popular to some in the local community and those who travel the route daily from further afield, I would find the prospect horrific.  Whilst I don't believe this is a credible or realistic option, it is possible.  To my mind, it is also the worst possible outcome for the WHS.

Fourth, whilst I and others might share the wish that the A303 could be re-routed outside the WHS (as it is now, now or as it might one day be expanded to be),  that isn't on offer. Period, full-stop.It is NOT on offer.

There is another option which might just achieve everyone's aims.  Indeed, I suggested it to Dan Snow just before his interview with Paul Clifton.  Dan had, quite rightly in my view, expressed the most sensible thing he said all morning.  That was his belief that the Stonehenge WHS had a unique national, indeed global, significance and value and should be protected.  I suggested that we could test this shared view in a very pragmatic way: set up a public subscription, as the Victorians used to do to fund major works.  The international response to the subscription appeal would prove once and for all whether the concept of the Stonehenge WHS had any value at all.  Do people really value their heritage?  If not' let's just proceed as has been proposed.

Of course, let's not forget the fact that last August, Dan Snow and his wife, the heiress Lady Edwina Grosvenor, the second child of the Duke of Westminster, intimated that they don't want any possible inheritance to be a burden to their children and might give it away to charity.  Admirable stuff that.  Now, the Duke of Westminster is pretty high up the UK rich list and has a bob or two, an estimated fortune of about £8.5 billion.  That would buy an awful lot of tunnel - about 17.5 km.  Perhaps the idea of a "Duke of WestminsterGlobal Heritage Tunnel" might be an appealing legacy - especially to someone who made their fortune because of land? 

Going back to my earlier point of a long tunnel that crossed the current and any probable future sitelines of an expanded WHS, then the Duke of Westminster's legacy could easily pay for the 13.5 km of tunnel needed to cross the obvious geographical features and still leave some pocket money for the children and grandchildren.  It's just a suggestion and I wouldn't want the Westminster's to feel under any obligation...

I think, however, it is only fair to leave the last word to the "opposition" - the Stonehenge Alliance...

...as they clearly suggest here. Please contact UNESCO and show your support for dualling the A303 - preferably in a tunnel!  You should also sign up to the STAG campaign!

Tutt Tutt - Blinkered Views and Lack of Academic Rigour

In the last post, we suggested that the fruit-loops were coming out to play, as indeed some did.  This month has seen a bunch of academics and antiquarians pushing the most egregious example of illogical thinking I have seen in a long time.

Today, the Daily Telegraph carried an article about three such individuals, Mr David Jacques of the University of Buckingham, Prof Tim Darvill of Bournemouth University and Andy Rhind-Tutt of the Amesbury Museum and Heritage Trust spouting an awful lot of claptrap-dressed up as science regarding the discovery of the latest-dated Mesolithic encampment ever found in the UK at a site a mile and a half to the south of Stonehenge at a place called Blick Mead.  Indeed, if I was a Vice Chancellor at either of these universities I would be asking some serious questions about the logical reasoning abilities and lack of academic rigour of some of my staff.

There is no doubt that the discovery at Blick Mead is interesting, it certainly is, but the arguments put forward by the academics are facile and disingenuous in the extreme.  Firstly. they posit that the proposed A303 tunnel, a mile and half away, is going to have an instant and massive detrimental effect to the archaeology, whereas the 6,000 years of development much closer to the Blick Mead site, and also impacting on the local water table - such as construction and redevelopment of the town of Amesbury itself, the massive developments at Solstice Park the runway at Boscombe Down (to be fair, 2 miles from Blick Mead) and even the A303 itself - have had no discernible impact on the archaeology.

Second, even if a tunnel were to adversely impact on this new archaeology, does it matter?  Well, only if the periods of history and pre-history favoured by Jacques, Darvill and Rhind-Tutt are the be-all-and-end-all of archaeology; which of course they are not.  The reality is very different of course, as everything that happened prior to you reading this line, happened in the past - whether it it was 10,000 years ago or 10 femtoseconds ago - it is all worthy of study by archaeologists.  All of it is important and all of it valuable, but to suggest one element is more important than another is arrogance in the extreme.  Importance is purely a matter of opinion - not fact.

Third, as someone with an interest in more recent history, I could equally argue that the role of the World Heritage Site and its environs, from 1914 to the present day, is of much greater national and international importance because of its involvement in WWI and WWII and thus national survival and the preservation of the free-world, than are any other events or structures in the area. I could argue that, but my argument would be as irrelevant and ill-considered as the arguments of Jacques, Darvill and Rhind Tutt.

You could look at all this another way - and perhaps we should.  Things that are planned and built today become the archaeological sites of tomorrow.  That would, of course, include any tunnel to bypass Stonehenge.  It's fame is already global and it isn't yet built.  Picture a time several thousand years past when someone had the inspiration to build something unique in wood on a greenfield site north west of Amesbury.  There were probably a bunch of naysayers complaining about loss of open-space amenities such as grazing or hunting, and their descendants millennia later were still bitching on about the evils of change when the wood was replaced with stone and the stones were re-arranged.  Change never suits everyone.

However, if it wasn't for change, for man shaping his environment to meet his current and future needs, there would be no science of archaeology at all.  Ironic that isn't it; the obsession with preserving the past prevents change and the creation of history.

It also means that, no matter where you were to stuff the A303 - along, its current line, or north, or south of it, it is going to affect some archaeology, all of it important to someone - unless it goes through somewhere that has never felt the touch of the hand of man.  To be honest, the only place where this can be pretty much guaranteed in the WHS is - yes - underground.  A tunnel of such magnificent proportions that it dwarfs its antecedents - a man-made wonder of the 21st century and piece of premier archaeology of the future.  What better legacy for a World Heritage Site.

Now, how about the red algae, Hildenbrandia rivularis, found at Blick Mead that gives the flint a pink appearance.  It's unusual in the UK, but it is found throughout Europe and beyond, most frequently, it would seem, in countries and regions with a high degree of forestation and little farming.  That rather begs the question if the reason it is so unusual in the UK is simply down to the level of deforestation and agriculture.  When you dig a little deeper into the story, yet again, there is a degree of selectivity in the facts that are presented.  Yes, Hildenbrandia rivularis is very dependent on warmish hard water, but it is also very, very sensitive to phosphate levels in the water, phosphates that are applied to farmland all around Stonehenge, phosphates that arise from human and animal waste across the catchment area, phosphates that leach out of graveyards often located close to streams and rivers.  Perhaps we should replant Salisbury Plain with trees,  depopulate the whole area, disinter the dead and ban all forms of farming?

There is an even more bizarre possible explanation for Hildenbrandia rivularis being at Blick Mead - the building of Stonehenge itself.  How is that possible?  Well, when you look at the distribution of this algae round the UK, it is most common in Yorkshire and the east and west of Wales.  The map below shows the distribution, though apologies for the small size of the dots.  I'm sure you will note that the sites in west Wales are very close to Carn Goedog, the site of origin of Stonehenge's Blue stones.  So, there is a chance that the Hildenbrandia rivularis hitched a ride on the stones as they made their way the 160 miles to Stonehenge.  That would, of course, mean they are an introduced species and, some would say, ought to be exterminated.

As for Mr Rhind-Tutt and his tall tale of a "tunnel with one exit lane."  It exists only in the convoluted recesses of his imagination.  But if the government could construct the the tunnel 4 lanes in each direction instead of the proposed 2, for the same £1.3bn, most of the folks in the local area will be well-pleased.

Banish Bypass Bullshit

One of the things we have always been aware of is just how emotive the whole issue of the A303 and the World Heritage Site is.  The positive news (to us) of funding being found for the A303 and a tunnel to get it through the World Heritage Site, as well as the bypass for Winterbourne Stoke and all the other beleaguered communities along its route is seen as an announcement about the end of the world by a few.

Some of them are genuinely concerned but ill-informed, others appear to be one slice short of a sandwich and some appear to be simply malicious.  The one thing that many of them have in common is their propensity to spout nonsense and live in a world where financial constraints, employment, health, public opinion and the laws of nature have no meaning.

From the moment we started this blog, our stated intention was to challenge factual inaccuracies, cant or hyperbole when it came to all issues relating to the A303.  We've done so without fear, or favour, and have regularly taken to task English Heritage, the Highways Agency and Wiltshire Council.

Given some of the comments that we and other STAG members have received over the last 24 hours it is clear that this sort of effort is going to be needed more than ever now there seems to be a fairly strong possibility of the work going ahead.  So today, we announce the start of our "Banish Bypass Bullshit" campaign.
 

So, every time our attention is drawn to those seeking to halt the A303 improvements by use of bullshit, we will seek out those experts who can provide the facts and hard evidence that will rebut their specious claims and publish it.  What we want is evidence and fact, not ill-informed opinion or outright bigotry.  Of course, we have a heart and when we come across those who are, quite clearly, in need of professional help of a type we cannot provide, we promise to gently help steer them towards the arms of those who can.

Already we have seen some odd statements from the sort of folk who were against digging the channel tunnel in case the roof caved in and southern England got flooded, or against driving at all because such speeds would stop us breathing.  If you qualify as one of these people or organisations, we are on your case!

...and Afternoon Tea with the Prime Minister

...and that is even more of an exaggeration as there was no tea and David Cameron was whisked straight down to the stones for his interviews and he came nowhere near the general public down at the Stonehenge Visitors centre.

Apparently, his security detail over-reacted to the sight of two STAG tabards and thought there was a mass demo waiting for him.  They had to be told that STAG was supporting the dualing of the A303 and a tunnel past Stonehenge - not objecting to it. 

As a total aside, you do have to question the logic behind spending so much on security for elected representatives.  It's not as if we don't have a bottomless well of those who would be only to happy to succeed the current PM -  if he were to fall foul of an intolerant electorate - impeachment with extreme prejudice if you like.  Politicians are, after all, a bit like London buses - you never see them unless there is a photo-opportunity, then a whole bunch of them come along together.  You can generally spot them as they are frequently red, and often wheeze like a clapped-out diesel engine.

Perhaps his security folk had heard what STAGs do those who annoy them?

Anyway, the PM came, had his Stonehenge photo opportunity - which is no doubt now off his bucket list - and then buggered off back to London.

Perhaps the most important thing he is (alleged) to have said in conversation with Simon Thurley of English Heritage is:

"and now the money can be spent on dualing the A303"

We will see, we will see.

Breakfast With Nick Clegg at Stonehenge

Well, not exactly.  It's a bit of hyperbole to say that I actually had breakfast with the Deputy Prime Minister - I was up at Stonehenge this morning for the BIG announcement, as was Nick Clegg, and I was stood fairly close to him with a cup of coffee, which might pass for breakfast, but I never actually got to speak with him.  Never mind, we were all around for a common purpose - to give interviews to the Press.

Before getting up to Stonehenge, I had an assignation with a lovely lady called Rebecca Rooney from BBC Wiltshire, for an interview on the A303 funding announcement.  We met up on the forecourt of the Bell Inn, Winterbourne Stoke, with the fast-moving, early morning, commuter traffic providing an "interesting" backdrop.  We had the usual mix of large HGVs travelling at well over the 40 mph limit to help them get up the hills on either side of the village.  We had school kids using the light-controlled crossing with fast moving vehicles bearing down on them with seemingly little realisation that there was a crossing there at all.  Then we had the usual nightmare of villagers trying to get out of the village onto the A303 - with one taking almost 10 minutes to find a nearly safe gap into which to pull out.

I'll even forgive Rebecca for calling me Mr Churchill - perhaps I should go into politics after all and give John Glenn MP a run for his money?

So what's the big deal?  Well, the Government announced that it was going to be earmarking some £15 billion for important road projects across the UK.  Its worth contrasting that sum with the £17 billion earmarked (so far) for the HS2 - and bear in mind that only 10% of goods traffic and a fraction of passenger traffic is shipped by rail.

Of the £15 billion, some £2 billion has been ear-marked for the A303 and £1.3 billion earmarked for a tunnel under Stonehenge - though it isn't clear if the £1.3 billion is separate from the £2 billion, or the major part of it.  It sounds a lot of money, but how far will it go?  Well lets have some facts and figures:

- dual carriageway cost between £20 million/mile to £25 million/mile to build on average - so £2 billion would buy 80-100 milesof dual carriageway - much more than is needed for the A303.   £0.7 billion gets you 28-35 miles - probably about right.
- tunnels cost a darned site more to build than dual carriageway, though I'm not sure £1.3 billion is necessarily realistic.  
-to put things in perspective, the A3 Hindhead tunnel at 1.9km long cot the bulk of the £371 million spent on the whole 4km project.  However, the "Big Dig" project in Boston (US) cost in excess of £12.5 billion for a tunnel twice the length of the one proposed for Stonehenge.

So, we welcome the news - but with a healthy scepticism.  After all, we'vee been here before.  Back in the late 1980s, Maggie Thatcher promised A303 widening as a package of road building measures that were claimed to be the biggest since Roman times - they failed to deliver.  More recently, the last Labour government promised to do the job, but killed the project on cost grounds.  So in some ways, here we go again.

However, there are a few differences this time.  Firstly, English Heritage and the National Trust appear to be singing from the same song-sheet and have agreed a plan that minimises impact on the World Heritage Site.  Pragmatism is being shown by many other parties too, recognising that the A303 is a strategic route and it has to be dealt with sooner rather than later.

Pragmatism will also be needed here in Winterbourne Stoke - clearly we will benefit from the removal of traffic from the centre of the village, but there are risks - noise from a dual carriageway situated to the north of the village being an obvious issue. So we will need to fight hard to ensure the environmental issues are addressed to our satisfaction and benefit.  I am sure there will be other issues.

The best news is the fact that they plan to tie the funding into the Infrastructure Bill that is currently going through parliament.  It's all tied into making the Highways Agency a company and ensuring funding certainty in 5-year tranches.  It doesn't mean that a future government couldn't stop things going ahead, but they would have to change legislation as well as changing their minds.

So - a healthy scepticism.  As I write, Rebecca Rooney is reporting a similar healthy scepticism from Larkhill and other villagers

Up at Stonehenge, lots of positive vibes about the plan. STAGs Janice Hassett seemed to be more in demand from interviewers than did Nick Clegg - but then she is a bit of a straight-talking, fire-brand who calls a spade, a spade.

It was a good opportunity to buttonhole people like the regional head of the Highways Agency to ask about what happens in the meantime about the A303 nightmare.  Specifically, we raised the issue of the dangers of Longbarrow Roundabout - as did other STAG members.  We'll see if this has any effect.

So - lets see what happens when all the fuss about today's news dies down and the economic realities hit home.