http://www.savestonehenge.org.uk
This news is taken from the latest newletter

1. Public Inquiry ends
2. What happens next?
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1. Public Inquiry ends

It's a few months since we last wrote to you.... and things have been very
busy!

A public inquiry into the highway plans began in February. (For those of
you outside the UK, a public inquiry is a bit like a court case that major
construction projects in this country typically undergo.) The Highways
Agency (the road-building wing of the British government and one of the the
main-movers behind this scheme) issued thousands of pages of documents
about the proposed new highway... and a wide variety of objectors
scrutinized them and pointed out the problems. The Inquiry ran for about 12
weeks and finally ended on May 11.

There was worldwide press coverage of the Inquiry. You can read a selection
of the articles on our website here:
 http://www.savestonehenge.org.uk/stoneh.html

Kate Fielden of the Stonehenge Alliance has written a great summary of the
Inquiry (thanks Kate!), which you can find here:
 http://www.savestonehenge.org.uk/inquirysummary.html

In its closing statement to the Inquiry, the Stonehenge Alliance summed up
many people's grave concerns about the road plan:

"Having followed closely the evidence brought to the Inquiry, the
Stonehenge Alliance's view remains unchanged: the Published Scheme would
inflict severe and permanent damage on the Stonehenge World Heritage Site
[WHS] and ought not to be allowed. This exceptional place has already been
much damaged in the past. New 'improvements' at Stonehenge should not
include a road scheme that English Heritage describes as no more than 'the
best we have on offer' and falls far short of protection and conservation
of the WHS.

On the contrary, we believe that the WHS is of such outstanding
international importance that only the right thing should be done in terms
of roads or anything else - even if that means we must wait until such as
this may be achieved.

It is the Alliance's view that the road scheme would be so damaging to the
WHS that it should be rejected. Like ICOMOS-UK, we do not feel that we
should support the scheme for the benefits it would bring - for those
benefits would be gained at too high a price: substantial and irreversible
damage to the WHS and its setting. We would prefer to see nothing done
rather than the damage the scheme would cause. We would, however, be glad
to consider a scheme that would do no further damage to the WHS and aimed
to protect and rehabilitate the WHS as a whole.

That is why we are here - to argue against the appalling threat that hangs
over this WHS, all the more shocking because those who have responsibility
for its protection are those who would damage the place and its setting for
ever, apparently through lack of full understanding of the value that is to
be placed upon it.

Our message to the Secretary of State is simple. We plead, logically
because of the planning framework that should safeguard it, and with
heartfelt enthusiasm because of its acknowledged significance to mankind,
for the preservation of the Stonehenge WHS for future generations. We
respectfully ask for a stay of execution until a better solution may be
found and we would naturally be glad to assist in any effort to achieve
such a solution."

You can read the Stonehenge Alliance's closing statements in full here:
 http://www.savestonehenge.org.uk/allianceclosingstatement.html

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2. What happens next?

The Inquiry inspector (effectively, a kind of judge who hears and sums up
the evidence) will now go away and write a lengthy report about the
arguments for and against the road scheme. He is expected to send his
report to the Secretary of State for Transport, Alistair Darling, by
September. Mr Darling, the Minister whose own Highways Agency has been so
enthusiastically promoting the road scheme for the last few years, then
gets to make the final decision. Far be it from us to point out a certain
conflict of interest.

Anyway, Mr Darling loves receiving letters, so now is certainly the time to
write to him expressing your views about the proposed highway. If he gets
the message that there is massive international outrage about this road, he
might just change his mind. Please send your letters as soon as you can.
Polite, well-argued, passionate letters are great, but please don't send
abusive letters or rants. Start your letter: "I am writing to object to the
A303 Stonehenge Improvement..." and give your reasons. (There are some
simple standard letters on our website Take Action page, but it's much much
better to write something in your own words, however short.)

Rt. Hon. Alistair Darling MP
Secretary of State
Department for Transport
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR
United Kingdom.

Please remember one thing: If Mr Darling gives the go-ahead (and he's very
likely to do so), bulldozers will be rolling into the Stonehenge World
Heritage Site NEXT YEAR. So we must keep the pressure up.