§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they were consulted about a proposed bypass round the village of Avebury on the A.361, as part of Wiltshire's formulation of its 1980 Structure Plan; what were the considerations which led to the exclusion of the scheme from the Structure Plan, and what information they now have about the volume of traffic through the village and the long-term effects of this traffic on the monument.
383WA
§ Lord Brabazon of TaraA bypass for Avebury was not a proposal in the North East Wiltshire Structure Plan as submitted in 1980 by the Wiltshire County Council, and which was subsequently approved, with modifications, by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Environment. The County Council did not include an Avebury bypass scheme as it could not be justified then on economic grounds. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport understands that there has been a slight fall in the volume of traffic through the village over the past two years, and that current levels of traffic are unlikely to have a significant long-term effect on the monument. Future decisions on whether or not to proceed with a bypass scheme are for the county council, as highway authority.