§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
When proposals from (a) the Stonehenge Working Group on Road Improvements and (b) the Working Group on the Stonehenge Management Plan will be put out for public consultation; and what is the relationship between these two groups and the group on the Master Plan, all of which the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has established to work on Stonehenge. [HL100]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyA steering group is being established to co-ordinate and oversee the implementation of the Master Plan for Stonehenge. A Working Group on the A.303 improvement scheme will report progress to this steering group. Public consultation in the lead-up to the announcement of the Preferred Route, particularly for the Winterbourne Stoke Bypass, is nearing completion. Further consultation will take place as the detailed design is developed. The World Heritage Site Management Group, chaired by Lady Gass, which has been set up to develop the Stonehenge Management Plan, will keep the Steering138WA Group informed of its progress and will determine a timetable for consulting on its draft report.
§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the Master Plan for Stonehenge outlined by the Secretary of State in Amesbury in September this year included a cut-and-cover tunnel within the World Heritage Site, despite the consensus established at the 1994 and 1995 public conferences in favour of a twin bored tunnel as the most cost-effective way of dealing with the A.303 in the World Heritage Site area of Stonehenge; and [HL97]
Whether they have been informed by English Heritage why they no longer feel bound by the public pledge they gave, jointly with the National Trust, in 1994: "Only … the long bored tunnel … meets the essential requirements of this World Heritage Site … There is no historic site in England where we shall uphold our duty with greater resolve and determination". [HL99]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyAlthough the 1995 conference supported in principle the proposal for a long tunnel at Stonehenge, it recognised that its cost would be far in excess of the funds available from the then government's transport budget. There was no mention of a twin bored tunnel being the most cost-effective way of dealing with the A.303. The cost of a 4-kilometre tunnel was estimated independently in late 1995 by two leading consultants to be in the region of £300 million. English Heritage agreed with the Government's view that a long tunnel at that price was unaffordable, and that the project's objectives could be achieved by a shorter cut-and-cover tunnel.
§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
What preparations English Heritage is making, with the voluntary sector, for the celebrations of the Millennium at Stonehenge and Avebury. [HL102]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyArrangements for the celebration of the Millennium at these sites are currently subject to discussion with the South Wiltshire Police and local interest groups. No special events are planned.