Stonehenge World Heritage Site Management Plan

Your chance to comment

September 1999

What are World Heritage Sites?

World Heritage Sites have been identified by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as being of international importance for the conservation of cultural and natural heritage. There are 582 such sights in the world including 17 in the UK. Examples are: the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids at Giza, the Grand Canyon, and the Tower of London. The UK Government is committed to preparing management plans for all our World Heritage Sites. This leaflet tells you about the draft Stonehenge World Heritage Site management plan and invites your comments.

Why is the Stonehenge World Heritage Site important?

Stonehenge is a uniquely designed stone circle of prehistoric date (3000 BC) unparalleled in the world. It is at the centre of a World Heritage Site of over 2000 hectares of chalk down land which contains a large of important prehistoric monuments. Stonehenge occupies a unique position in our national heritage, is now visited by over three quarters of a million people a year and needs protection for future generations.

What are the problems facing the Stonehenge World Heritage Site?

The monuments and landscape of the World Heritage Site continue to be threatened in a variety of ways. Stonehenge is under great pressure not only as a result of the large numbers of visitors that it attracts, but also from the effects of traffic on the A303 and A344 which cut across the landscape. The existing visitor car park and facilities are unattractive and form an inappropriate setting the stones. Arable farming in much of the World Heritage Site has put the survival of archaeological remains at risk.

What are management plans?

A strategy for the future is needed to balance the conservation needs of a World Heritage Site with the requirements of today's economy and the people who live and in the area. Through consultation with landowners, interested bodies and the local community, management plans establish a frame for long term decision making for the conservation of the cultural heritage and the benefit of local people. Management plans are not constraints but identify opportunities. The proposals for improving setting of Stonehenge, announced by English Heritage and the National Trust in April 1999, are an important means by which many of the plan's main objectives can be financed and delivered.

Who is involved in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site management plan?

A draft management plan for the Stonehenge World Heritage Site has been prepared over the last 18 months by the Stonehenge World Heritage Site management group. The group includes national and local organisations and local landowners with an interest in the World Heritage Site. The many organisations and individuals that are actively involved in managing the Stonehenge landscape will lead to continue working in partnership to achieve the objectives of the plan as it is implemented.

What does the plan seek to achieve?

• The creation of a larger area of restored open grassland, which will improve the setting of Stonehenge and other monuments.
• The closure of the A344 and placing of A303 in a tunnel as it passes Stonehenge.
• The removal of the existing visitor facilities and parking and the creation of a new world-class centre at a location outside the World Heritage Site.
• The improvement of site intelligent to enhance visitors' enjoyment of the World Heritage Site as a whole.
• More public footpaths and the provision of alternative means of public and managed open access to Stonehenge and the World Heritage Site as a whole.
• The improvement of nature conservation values, such as the creation and maintenance of flower-rich chalk grassland.
• The continued conservation and improvement of the archaeological sights and the promotion of an associated archaeological research programme.
• The spreading of the economic benefits of tourism at Stonehenge to the wider locality.
• The promotion of an integrated approach to transport for the World Heritage Site which will both benefit never people and improve visitor enjoyment of the site.
• The creation of a special fund for the World Heritage Site to realise the management plan objectives guided by an implementation group which should include local interests.

How to contribute your views on the draft plan

The draft management plan is available for public consultation during September and October 1999. We would welcome your views.

Copies of the draft plan will be available for inspection at:

• The public libraries and tourist information centres in Salisbury and Amesbury
• Durrington public library
• Salisbury District Council offices (Bourne Hill)
• Wiltshire County Council offices (Trowbridge
• Shrewton post office.

You are invited to provide comments on the draft plan by writing to:

The Stonehenge WHS Management Plan Project
c/o Chris Blandford Associates
The Old Crown
High Street
Blackboys, Uckfield
East Sussex TN22 5JR
United Kingdom