Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #StonehengeTunnel
Most recents (14)
š The Tories have tanked our economy and we are facing more massive cuts.
š”Scrapping 5 biggest road schemes would ānearly halve budget deficit'
š§µ A thread on why we need to scrap road building plans for the sake of our economy AND our environment š
transportxtra.com/publications/lā¦
š”Scrapping 5 biggest road schemes would ānearly halve budget deficit'
š§µ A thread on why we need to scrap road building plans for the sake of our economy AND our environment š
transportxtra.com/publications/lā¦
š Building new roads is absolutely the wrong thing to do in a #ClimateEmergency
š Roads increase traffic, noise, air pollution and carbon emissions
š° The 5 largest road schemes in the pipeline as part of #RIS2 all have weak economic cases and will cost Ā£16BILLION! @StopRIS2
š Roads increase traffic, noise, air pollution and carbon emissions
š° The 5 largest road schemes in the pipeline as part of #RIS2 all have weak economic cases and will cost Ā£16BILLION! @StopRIS2
1ļøā£ Ā£10 BILLION - Lower Thames Crossing
A tunnel connecting Kent and Essex under the Thames estuary. 14.3 miles of new road and widening of the A2 and M2 in Kent
This will bring a massive increase in emissions and loss of wildlife and surrounding natural areas
Follow @tcaginfo
A tunnel connecting Kent and Essex under the Thames estuary. 14.3 miles of new road and widening of the A2 and M2 in Kent
This will bring a massive increase in emissions and loss of wildlife and surrounding natural areas
Follow @tcaginfo
YES, YES, YES!!!!!!!!!!!
So the law - unlike the Department of Transport - is not an ass.
This is the most wonderful news!
Congratulations to everyone involved in bringing this case to court, and winning a verdict that was richly, richly merited. #StonehengeTunnel
So the law - unlike the Department of Transport - is not an ass.
This is the most wonderful news!
Congratulations to everyone involved in bringing this case to court, and winning a verdict that was richly, richly merited. #StonehengeTunnel
Mr Justice Holgate "agreed that, in breach of rules in the National Policy Statement for National Networks (NPSNN) and the Planning Act (PA 2008), the Transport Secretary had not properly assessed the risk of harm to each heritage asset within the World Heritage Site."
"The judge found that he did not have the evidence to conclude that the project would cause āless than substantial harmā to the heritage assets within the WHS, which he deemed fatal to the lawfulness of the decision to grant development consent."
Asked by @AgnesCPoirier to show her l'Angleterre profonde tomorrow, I will - of course - be taking her to Wiltshire.
On the tour: a Mesolithic sacred spring, a top secret MOD facility turned cannabis factory, a paedophile slave owner's folly, & memories of King Alfred.
On the tour: a Mesolithic sacred spring, a top secret MOD facility turned cannabis factory, a paedophile slave owner's folly, & memories of King Alfred.
To Wiltshire!
At Blick Mead, where Mesolithic settlers set up camp beside a sacred spring, Guinevere retired after losing Sir Launcelot, & from which pilgrims will be leaving next week on a solstice journey to Avebury.
The eastern portal of the #StonehengeTunnel will be built on its doorstep.
The eastern portal of the #StonehengeTunnel will be built on its doorstep.
Tonight at 7pm, I will be hosting an event in which Mike Parker-Pearson, Phil Goodwin & Kate Freeman explain exactly why the #StonehengeTunnel is a disgrace, & why, on 23rd June, a legal challenge against the Government's plans will be coming to court.
eventbrite.co.uk/e/saving-stoneā¦
eventbrite.co.uk/e/saving-stoneā¦
If you have questions, please send them to savestonehenge@gmail.com.
āAn unacceptable level of damageā - Mike Parker-Pearson on the threat presented by the Governmentās plans for the #StonehengeTunnel to the Stonehenge landscape.
No one better qualified to call out the scale of the looming scandal.
No one better qualified to call out the scale of the looming scandal.
The cavalry to the rescue: 17 of the most formidable scholars you could wish to see as signatories to a letter to The Times opposing the #StonehengeTunnel have saddled up & come galloping over the horizon.
They are not happy.
They are not happy.
"An area within the WHS the size of 20 football pitches will be destroyed because the tunnel is simply too short... Half a million artefacts are destined for oblivion: they will be destroyed without trace by mechanical excavators... This destructive strategy is unacceptable."
"Grant Shapps, transport secretary, overruled a recommendation from planning officials to allow the scheme to proceed."
He's also overruled UNESCO & the leading academic experts.
Still, at least he's got the chief executive of Highways England onboard... thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/sā¦
He's also overruled UNESCO & the leading academic experts.
Still, at least he's got the chief executive of Highways England onboard... thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/sā¦
Letter from Simon Jenkins, a former chairman of ā¦@nationaltrustā©, to The Times, opposing the #StonehengeTunnel.
āThe decision is being taken not by an environment or heritage minister but by a transport secretary to ease traffic, against the advice of the planning inspectorate.ā
#StonehengeTunnel
#StonehengeTunnel
The tragedy is that @nationaltrust under its current leadership - as this from Devizes MP @danny__kruger makes clear - have played a key role in providing the Government with the fig leaf they needed to proceed with the #StonehengeTunnel in the face of @PINSgovās opposition.
"The Planning Inspectorate had recommended Transport Secretary Grant Shapps withhold consent, warning it would cause "permanent, irreversible harm" to the World Heritage site."
So what has the Government done?
Go on - guess.
#StonehengeTunnel
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englanā¦
So what has the Government done?
Go on - guess.
#StonehengeTunnel
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englanā¦
".. the effects of the proposed development would substantially and permanently harm the integrity of the WHS, now and in the future."
This is a very blunt judgement from the Planning Inspectorate.
SUSTANTIAL & PERMANENT HARM to our most significant prehistoric landscape.
This is a very blunt judgement from the Planning Inspectorate.
SUSTANTIAL & PERMANENT HARM to our most significant prehistoric landscape.
Why has the Government over-ruled such clear advice?
I'd be very interested to follow the money...
#StonehengeTunnel
I'd be very interested to follow the money...
#StonehengeTunnel
Why did the Planning Inspectorate recommend tthe Government should turn down the #StonehengeTunnel?
Because it threatens "substantial harm" to the Stonehenge landscape, which is - as the Planning Inspectorate reminds the Government - a World Heritage Site
Because it threatens "substantial harm" to the Stonehenge landscape, which is - as the Planning Inspectorate reminds the Government - a World Heritage Site
Grantt Schapps' response? āHe accepts there will be harm as a result of the Development in relation to cultural heritage & the historic environment & that this should carry great weightā¦ This harm along with the other harms identified, are outweighed by the benefits.ā
The benefits to who?
- Tory MPs in the s-west
- the haulage industry
- developers, who will make fat profit from bulldozing our most precious prehistoric landscape
- English Heritage & the Natural Trust, who will be able to charge people for a view that will no longer be free
- Tory MPs in the s-west
- the haulage industry
- developers, who will make fat profit from bulldozing our most precious prehistoric landscape
- English Heritage & the Natural Trust, who will be able to charge people for a view that will no longer be free
"There is (at the very least) a real risk of significant harm to one of the most important heritage assets within this nation."
Soberly, forensically, devastatingly, archaeologists at the heart of recent finds in the Stonehenge landscape make their case: ā¦structure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-content/ipcā¦
Soberly, forensically, devastatingly, archaeologists at the heart of recent finds in the Stonehenge landscape make their case: ā¦structure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-content/ipcā¦
"The Consortiumās case throughout the examination has been that the heritage impact of the proposal is so harmful such that the DCO ought to be refused. The new discovery adds further weight to this argument." #StonehengeTunnel
"The discovery undermines much of the work carried out by Historic England & upon which they invite the Secretary of State to conclude that the scheme will in fact be beneficial in heritage terms. The new discovery demonstrates that HEās techniques are inadequate."
Cool, lethal
Cool, lethal
I see that the National Trust, not content with backing the #StonehengeTunnel, are now setting their sights on Wiltshire's other great megalithic monument.
They're letting visitors to Avebury down, they're letting their own members down, but worst of all they're letting themselves down.
Vandalism a bit of a theme...
BREAKING!
Decision on the #StonehengeTunnel postponed.
āFollowing notification of a recent archaeological find within the World Heritage Site, the deadline for the decision is to be further extended to 13 November 2020.ā
gov.uk/government/speā¦
Decision on the #StonehengeTunnel postponed.
āFollowing notification of a recent archaeological find within the World Heritage Site, the deadline for the decision is to be further extended to 13 November 2020.ā
gov.uk/government/speā¦
So no final decision tomorrow. The Government acknowledging - at last - that Stonehenge exists in the context of a landscape that is itself of immense archaeological significance. A budget shot to pieces.
Iām daring to hope for the best. #StonehengeTunnel
Iām daring to hope for the best. #StonehengeTunnel
A reminder that the future of the Stonehenge landscape is not just an issue for Britain. As this excellent feature in @Forbes demonstrates, the eyes of the world are on Salisbury Plain. #StonehengeTunnel
https://t.co/QCsCQOF5RA
https://t.co/QCsCQOF5RA
Surely Boris - a man with a deep knowledge of & romantic attachment to the ancient past - will not want to go down in history as the man who gave the green light to the desecration that is the #StonehengeTunnel?
Plus, his father is a big fan of #hedgehog conservation.
And these, of course - when push comes to shove - are easily the two most important issues now facing the country.
I see that Highways England is looking for āa world class team to deliver A303ā (aka āvampires to batten onto Britainās most precious prehistoric landscapeā), despite the Public Accounts Committee questioning the schemeās viability only earlier this month. gov.uk/government/newā¦
āIt will be extremely challenging to deliver the South West road improvements to cost and time, and the department does not have a good track record in delivering major projectsā - Public Accounts Committee #StonehengeTunnel
The MP for Salisbury signally failing to stick up for the World Heritage Site on his doorstep here:
The Secretary of State for Transport (aka Chris Grayling) is obliged by law to ensure that road developments do not put the UK āin breach of its international obligations.ā
Todayās ruling by UNESCO threatens precisely such a breach. #StonehengeTunnel
Todayās ruling by UNESCO threatens precisely such a breach. #StonehengeTunnel
Iām guessing that Chris Grayling doesnāt have long in his current post. If he wants to secure a legacy beyond jokes about ferries & hopeless railway timetables, he could do a lot worse than cancel the #StonehengeTunnel NOW
A big enough scandal that the BBC are now covering it. Surely the time is fast approaching when the Government will have no credible choice but to put the #StonehengeTunnel out of its misery? bbc.com/news/uk-englanā¦
