Report to Wiltshire Council by Alan Boyland BEng(Hons) DipTP CEng MICE MCIHT MRTPI an Inspector appointed by the Council assisted by John Wilde CEng MICE Date : 16 November 2011 ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 THE COUNTY OF WILTSHIRE (STONEHENGE WORLD HERITAGE SITE, PARISHES OF AMESBURY, BERWICK ST JAMES, DURRINGTON, WILSFORD CUM LAKE, WINTERBOURNE STOKE AND WOODFORD) (PROHIBITION OF DRIVING) ORDER 2010 Inquiry Opened: 22 June 2011 Ref: DPI/T3915/11/20 REPORT TO WILTSHIRE COUNCIL FILE REF: DPI/T3915/11/20 Prohibition of Driving Order at Stonehenge ___________________________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS CASE DETAILS ............................................................................................. 1 1. PREAMBLE ............................................................................................ 1 Appointment ....................................................................................... 1 Background to the Order ...................................................................... 1 Publication and Consultations ............................................................... 2 The Inquiry ........................................................................................ 2 This Report ......................................................................................... 4 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE ROAD & BOATS AND THEIR SURROUNDINGS ............................................................ 4 3. CONSULTATION RESPONSES ................................................................ 5 Support ............................................................................................. 6 Objections .......................................................................................... 6 4. THE CASE FOR THE ORDER MAKING AUTHORITY - WILTSHIRE COUNCIL ..................................................................... 8 5. THE CASES FOR SUPPORTERS ............................................................ 23 English Heritage ................................................................................ 23 The National Trust ............................................................................. 36 Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) .................................... 37 6. THE CASES FOR THE OBJECTORS ....................................................... 37 Mr Peter Beckwith ............................................................................. 37 Mr Gary Bower .................................................................................. 37 Mr Richard Broadley .......................................................................... 38 Mr Richard Collins ............................................................................. 38 Mr Mick Comfrey ............................................................................... 39 Council of British Druid Orders ............................................................ 40 The Cycling Opportunity Group for Salisbury ......................................... 43 Mr David Dickens .............................................................................. 43 Mr Keith W Dobson ............................................................................ 43 Mr David Flippance ............................................................................ 44 Ms Robyn Foster-Young...................................................................... 45 Mr J L Doxey ..................................................................................... 45 Mr J Jackson ..................................................................................... 45 (i) REPORT TO WILTSHIRE COUNCIL FILE REF: DPI/T3915/11/20 Prohibition of Driving Order at Stonehenge ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Mr Keith Johnston ............................................................................. 45 Land Access and Recreation Association (LARA) .................................... 46 Ms Lois Lloyd .................................................................................... 50 S Loftus ........................................................................................... 51 Ms Louana ‘Lou Purplefairy’ Mansfield .................................................. 52 Ms Linda Moonbow ............................................................................ 53 Mr D Oakley ..................................................................................... 53 Orcheston Parish Council .................................................................... 53 Mr Vic Price ...................................................................................... 54 Mr John Pritchard .............................................................................. 54 Mrs Sally Pritchard ............................................................................ 55 Mr Bill Riley ...................................................................................... 55 Ms Kazz Smith .................................................................................. 57 Mr Chris Stanbury ............................................................................. 57 Mr A Waring ..................................................................................... 57 Councillor Ian West ........................................................................... 58 7. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................... 59 Introduction ..................................................................................... 59 Legal issues ...................................................................................... 59 A344 ............................................................................................... 61 BOATs ............................................................................................. 63 Overall conclusions ............................................................................ 70 8. RECOMMENDATION ............................................................................ 70 APPENDIX A : ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................... 71 APPENDIX B : APPEARANCES AT THE INQUIRY ................................................ 72 APPENDIX C : DOCUMENTS LIST.................................................................... 74 (ii) REPORT TO WILTSHIRE COUNCIL FILE REF: DPI/T3915/11/20 Prohibition of Driving Order at Stonehenge ___________________________________________________________________________________________ CASE DETAILS The County of Wiltshire (Stonehenge World Heritage Site, Parishes of Amesbury, Berwick St James, Durrington, Wilsford cum Lake, Winterbourne Stoke and Woodford) (Prohibition of Driving) Order 2010 • This Order would be made under sections 1, 2 and Part IV of Schedule 9 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 as amended. • The Order was published on 21 January 2010, and there were some 326 objections outstanding to it at the commencement of the Inquiry. • The Order would prohibit the use by motorised vehicles (with certain defined exceptions) of the following: - the part of the A344 from Airman’s Corner to Byway Open to All Traffic (BOAT) Amesbury 12; - BOATs within the World Heritage Site including Woodford 16, Berwick St James 11, Wilsford cum Lake 1, Amesbury 12 and Durrington 10; and - BOATs Wilsford cum Lake 2 and Amesbury 11. • The stated reason for the Order is ‘to improve the amenity of the area’. Summary of Recommendation: That the Order be made, subject to modification so as to apply to the A344 only. 1. PREAMBLE Appointment 1.1 I have been appointed by Wiltshire Council (‘the Council’ or WC) to conduct a non-statutory Public Inquiry and to give my views as an independent Inspector as to ‘whether all or any of the statutory grounds for implementing the proposed TRO … have been met’ 1. Background to the Order 1.2 On 23 June 2010 the Council granted planning permission to English Heritage (EH) under reference S/2009/1527/FULL for: ‘Decommissioning of existing visitor facilities and a section of the A344; the erection of a new visitors centre, car park, coach park and ancillary services building; and related highways and landscaping works at Airmans Corner, land south east of the junction of the A360 and A344 Salisbury. ’ 2 1.3 On 11 August 2010 EH applied for a Stopping Up Order (SUO) on the A344 between its junction with the A303 at Stonehenge Bottom and the crossing 1 By letter to the Planning Inspectorate, dated 28 April 2011 2 Inquiry document CD1.2 - 1 - REPORT TO WILTSHIRE COUNCIL FILE REF: DPI/T3915/11/20 Prohibition of Driving Order at Stonehenge ___________________________________________________________________________________________ point of Byway 3 12. I held an Inquiry concerning this and an associated SUO (on the B3086 north of Airman’s Corner) between 22 and 27 June 2011. I reported with recommendations to the Secretary of State for Transport who, by letter dated 31 October 2011, announced her decision to make the Orders as proposed. 1.4 The proposed Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) would relate to the remaining length of A344 from Byway 12 to Airman’s Corner, together with various Byways Open to All Traffic (BOATs) within the Stonehenge part of the Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites World Heritage Site (WHS), (referred to for convenience as ‘the Stonehenge WHS’). Publication and Consultations 1.5 A preliminary consultation on the TRO was undertaken from