Stonehenge planning application called-in by Secretary of State

Published by webmaster for Salisbury District Council in Communities

Salisbury District Council has received official notification that the Secretary of State is to hold a public inquiry on English Heritage’s planning application for a new visitor centre at Stonehenge.

The Secretary of State has called in the application because she "considers that the proposals raise issues of more than local importance having regard to their relationship both to the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and to the Government's proposals for upgrading the A303."

By calling-in the application the decision-making process is taken out of the hands of the council.

The inquiry will be held by the Planning Inspector who will gather evidence from interested parties and then make a recommendation to the Secretary of State.

At this stage, the council has not been given a date for the inquiry. When the date is known, the council will be responsible for finding a venue and administering the procedure.

When the inquiry takes place, the district council will be required to put forward expert witnesses and justify its support for the proposal. The inquiry will also hear from objectors to the scheme.

Cllr Richard Britton, Leader of the Council said; "It is unfortunate that this issue is to be the subject of yet another public enquiry. We had hoped that, by making our approval subject to a number of conditions, the issue would have been resolved. However, we will prepare our case carefully and present the inspector with a clearly argued justification as to why we believe that the application should be granted, subject to conditions and a legal agreement.

"However we are extremely concerned with the further financial burden this inquiry will place on the council. The expense involved with such a process could be very significant indeed”

The council approved the application in July, subject to a number of conditions. These included that the development could not commence until the government had approved the published A303 roads scheme, which includes a flyover at Countess Road, a 2.1km bored tunnel, a bypass round Winterbourne Stoke and junction improvements at Longbarrow Crossroads. It also said that development could not commence until full details of the design and specification of the land train were submitted and approved by the council.

Ends

Press release issued: August 29 2006