Salisbury District Council has received official notification that the local government and communities secretary, Ruth Kelly, is to hold a public inquiry on the planning application put forward for a new visitor centre at Stonehenge by English Heritage.
Kelly has called in the application because she “considers that the proposals raise issues of more than local importance, as they regard both the Stonehenge world heritage site and the government’s proposals to upgrade the A303.”
The decision-making process is now out of the hands of the council and the inquiry will be held by a planning inspector, who will gather evidence from interested parties before making a recommendation to the local government and communities secretary.
Cllr Richard Britton, leader of the council, said: “It is unfortunate that this issue is to be the subject of yet another public enquiry. We had hoped that by making our approval subject to a number of conditions, the issue would have been resolved. However, we will prepare our case carefully and present the inspector with a clearly argued justification as to why we believe that the application should be granted, subject to conditions and a legal agreement.
“We are extremely concerned with the further financial burden this inquiry will place on the council, which could be very significant indeed.”
The council had approved the application in July, subject to a number of conditions. These stated that the development could not commence until the government had approved the published A303 roads scheme, which includes a flyover, a 2.1km bored tunnel and a bypass. It also said that development could not commence until full details of the design and specification of the land train were submitted and approved by the council.
Elsewhere, the RAC foundation has appealed to the Prime Minister to intervene to resolve the current indecision over the published A303 roads scheme.
The foundation chair, David Holmes, has written to Tony Blair to request an end to the “delays on the desperately needed improvement to a major route to the south west, which is also preventing the Stonehenge world heritage site from being restored to the setting it deserves.”
Holmes added: “The foundation is asking you to intervene because we fear that the opportunity to solve this problem is about to be lost. Because the cost estimate of the scheme has risen to £510m, the Department for Transport has insisted on re-examining some of the options ruled out by the public inquiry. This is a backwards step.”
The bored tunnel has support across the archaeological spectrum, including English Heritage, the UK Committee of UNESCO, the Society of Antiquaries of London, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Archaeology as well as archaeologists specifically concerned with Stonehenge, local councils, local MPs and tourist bodies. It also has the backing of environmental groups such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Holmes also reminded the Prime Minister that the published A303 roads scheme is the only option that could be completed in time for the 2012 Olympics. Details: www.racfoundation.org.uk or www.salisbury.org.uk
