§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the identity of the private developer involved with the proposed visitor centre at Stonehenge (referred to by the Secretary of State for National Heritage, HC Deb., 26th October 1992, col. 783), and the nature of his or her participation, was divulged to the planning authority when Messrs Debenham Tewson and Chinnocks (on behalf of English Heritage and the National Trust) applied to Salisbury District Council for outline planning permission for a new visitors' centre within the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site consisting of new buildings (with provision for 50–100 per cent. expanding visitor growth (see section 5, para 6.5 of the application document) and including restaurant, shop, interpretation and exhibition facilities and garage space), car parking for 700–800 vehicles, and a new road, all to provide a "complementary feature in a visit to the monument" (ibid, para 6.8); and if not whether they will ensure that all such matters are divulged to the inspector who conducts the appeal enquiry into the council's refusal of consent, particularly as in the application it is stated that the proposals are not "concerned with its [i.e., Stonehenge's] commercial exploitation (para 8.7 of summary, introduction p.11)."
Viscount AstorEnglish Heritage's plans for Stonehenge will be fully explained to the forthcoming public inquiry. They involve raising funds from the private sector for the restoration of the site and the provision of new visitor facilities in accordance with the principles of sustainable tourism set out inTourism and the Environment. There are no plans for commercial exploitation of the site by a private developer.