The protest outside the Royal Courts of Justice was a rare moment for some members of the Stonehenge Alliance committee to meet in person.
Dear Friends and Supporters,
As the shortest day of the year approaches we look back on a busy year, and for the Stonehenge Alliance a particularly sad one.
2023 saw the Transport Secretary once again grant development consent for the Stonehenge short tunnel despite the Planning Inspectorate recommending the scheme should not go ahead and it being condemned by UNESCO.
Only a few days later our leading light Dr Kate Fielden sadly died after a short illness. Kate co-founded the Alliance and was the insightful driving force behind our many campaigns to safeguard Stonehenge World Heritage Site from harm for over 30 years. Her loss to the campaign is beyond measure, and on a personal note she is missed with sorrow but also gratitude for her incredible stewardship.
The second development consent order for essentially the same scheme triggered a second application from Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site (SSWHS) for Judicial Review and a further Crowdfunding campaign to pay our legal costs. Thanks to 2,588 generous donors we reached our target with a few days to spare, before the case was heard in the High Court.
Our excellent legal team worked tirelessly throughout the tough three-day court hearing on 12/13/14 December. The Judge has to now reach a decision on our application. I’m afraid it’s impossible to know whether our challenge will be successful or not, or when the judgment will be handed down.
We are a small voluntary organisation without paid staff and many of us are retired, but we couldn’t have got this far without your amazing support and the encouragement we have received from people in the UK and many countries across the world.
We will update you as soon as the court’s decision is known. In the meantime from the Alliance every good wish for a happy winter solstice, a joyful Christmas and peace in the new year.
Warm regards,
John Adams OBE - and all the team
Chair of the Stonehenge Alliance
From our Royal Courts of Justice album
On the first day of the court hearing, behind a huge banner stretched across the barricades stood a diverse crowd of between 40 and 50 supporters with more banners and placards chanting "Save Stonehenge" in the drizzle. International press agencies and reporters relayed that message.
SNIPPETS
* IN THE NEWS: The protest was widely reported. Well summarised in The Independent.
* BACK AT STONEHENGE:Whilst outside the Courts, TV historian, Dan Snow, was at Stonehenge. He shared his strong views against the road scheme with the BBC. We captured the cliphere.
* ANY QUESTIONS was broadcast from Stonehenge Visitor Centre last week. The panellists comprised a Labour shadow minister, the LibDem leader, and a Telegraph journalist, who all gave the Stonehenge road scheme the thumbs down. The government minister gave a fairly limp thumbs up. Listen again here (UK only) about 30 minutes into the programme
The Stonehenge Alliance was set up in 2002 to protect the Stonehenge World Heritage Site from further damage. It has campaigned against the current road scheme since its inception in 2014. It is appalled by the Government's decision to go ahead with the short tunnel and road widening project in the face of:
strong advice from its Planning Inspectorate not to proceed,
UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee's condemnation, and
the High Court’s quashing of the scheme in 2021.
The Stonehenge Alliance is supported by Ancient Sacred Landscape Network; Campaign to Protect Rural England; Friends of the Earth; Rescue, The British Archaeological Trust; Transport Action Network and many individuals worldwide.
THE INTERNATIONAL PETITION against the road has reached well over 234,000 signatures. You can sign and share ithere.
