Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MBE MP
Minister of State
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
2-4 Cockspur Street
London
SW1Y 5DH

Dear Minister

Stonehenge

Please can you tell me when you expect the Government to be in a position to announce the way forward for Stonehenge? This is of great importance not only to my own constituents, but to the whole economy (including the tourist industry) of South West England.

As you know, the English Heritage Visitors Centre Project has been given conditional approval by the Planning Authority, dependent upon the A303 (T) upgrade project. That project consists of three components – Countess Roundabout Flyover, the Stonehenge Tunnel and the Winterbourne Stoke Bypass. If that project, in its entirety, is not proceeded with by the Department for Transport, then the planning permission for the English Heritage Visitors Centre falls.

Meanwhile, the existing Visitors Centre at Stonehenge remains “a national disgrace”. The English Heritage staff on site do a magnificent job in truly terrible conditions. If you have not yet visited the existing Visitors Centre, then please may I invite you to do so at the earliest opportunity? It would be a real pleasure to welcome you to my constituency – and I am sure English Heritage would be delighted to brief you on what has become nothing less than Britain’s greatest heritage scandal.

I am also writing to Tom Harris at the Department for Transport since he has assumed responsibility for the strategic road network, pointing out the responsibility which he now carries for the entire Stonehenge project.

Yours sincerely

Tom Harris MP
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Department for Transport
Great Minister House
76 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DR

Dear Minister

Stonehenge – A303 (T)

First, congratulations on your appointment to your very important job. As a former Minister for Roads and Traffic myself, I send you my very best wishes for what I know will be a challenging experience.

Please can you tell me when you expect to be in a position to make an announcement on the future of the A303 (T) improvement project, which includes the Countess Road Flyover, the Stonehenge Tunnel and the Winterbourne Stoke Bypass?

For more than a decade it has been the ambition of the Department for Transport to upgrade the A303 (T) to duel carriageway standard throughout its length. The first single carriageway stretch west of London is that which passes Stonehenge. It is thus crucial to our local economy and to the whole economy of South West England, that this route should be upgraded as soon as possible. As you will know, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and English Heritage, have progressed plans for the future management of the World Heritage Site and the Stonehenge Visitors Centre which depend upon your upgrading project for the A303 (T). If any part of that project falls, then the Stonehenge Visitors Centre falls as well. I am sure you are aware that DCMS has given pledges to UNESCO’s World Heritage Site Committee that they will remove the A344 from the site. DCMS remains under great pressure from UNESCO because of their stewardship of the UK’s World Heritage Sites- particularly at Stonehenge, the Tower of London and Westminster.

I am not blaming your Government in particular for the indecision over this improvement scheme. For over 20 years successive Governments have agreed that the road should be upgraded and successive Governments have failed to act. This represents, in my view, a breakdown in the machinery of Government – to the detriment of local and regional communities.

I think my own constituents now recognise that the need for a decision is paramount. I hope the decision will be to proceed with the road improvement. If not, then at least have a decision so that we can all start working on what happens if the decision is not to go ahead with your proposed upgrading.

Yours sincerely