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Stonehenge

I stress again that I am not a Transport Minister, so I shall not reply to that kind of detailed question. Clearly, the decision was taken earlier that it was a major transport scheme and therefore could not be funded regionally. I said—I suggest that the hon. Gentleman reads the Official Report carefully—that it is possible that there will be small-scale measures to improve traffic flow. The Highways Agency will have some responsibilities in that regard, and I hope that there will be some collaboration with the Highways Agency on anything that it feels it has to do after further study. I hope that that, Together with a reprioritisation of the regional transport pot of money by SWERDA and its partners, will lead to a compromise solution that will enable us to move forward. Hon. Members know that one possibility on the table—the ideal solution, because it would not disturb archaeological sites elsewhere—is to close the relevant part of the A344 and use that site as the basis for creating a visitors centre. However, that solution would require everyone to come to the table, to compromise and to contribute. That is what we will try to achieve with the reconvened board. All of that must be subject to consultation in the usual ways. I stress again that consensus will be the only way forward, and that will depend on the county council, the local authority and others. Salisbury district council was invited to the meeting, but it told us that the date clashed with a full meeting of the council and sent its apologies. Our focus must be on where to go from here. In response to a question asked in the House by the hon. Member for Salisbury on 10 December, I announced that the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, South, and I would jointly chair a meeting with key stakeholders, which we did—indeed, we had the first meeting that evening. Our goal is to deliver environmental improvements to Stonehenge, including new visitor facilities, in keeping with its status as a world heritage site by the beginning of 2012. In response to requests to report on that meeting, I will say that there was a real spirit of determination among those who were present to work together and bury the hatchet and to seek a consensual solution. We have set an ambitious timetable, but we will achieve what we want only if we work creatively and co-operate in the next phase. I cannot stress enough the importance of co-operation and I ask all those with an interest to support us in any way they can. We will, as the hon. Member for Salisbury noted, draw on the detailed investigations that have taken place over the years—it would be madness to try to reinvent the wheel. They will include the Stonehenge master plan, which was presented at the public inquiries for the A303 and the visitor centre, as well as the earlier plans that he mentioned regarding the location of the visitor centre. A central part of that work will be a review of the Stonehenge world heritage site management plan published in 2000, which my hon. Friend the Member for Telford mentioned. That plan has stood the test of time and much has been achieved since then, so we will use it as a basis from which to move forward, as the hon. Member for Salisbury suggested. The overall vision still has long-term validity and many objectives need no change, including the ones that the hon. Gentleman mentioned—1 to 3, 11 and 18. We will, however, need to review how those objectives can be achieved. To make any significant changes to the world heritage site boundary, which I think he might have suggested, we would have to submit a new nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which would render our timetable impossible. Much though I would like to help him in that regard, we will not go down that route. I therefore seek a review that focuses on the parts of the plan that need to be changed as a result of the decision that was announced to Parliament on 6 December. The process of considering those decisions will inform subsequent decisions on making improvements to the environment around the stones and, crucially, on the location of the new visitor centre. We will keep the UNESCO committee fully informed about developments; indeed, we have already written to advise it of our decision, and my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Transport is to write again. We will report further to the committee at the end of January 2008 and we will keep it informed as we review the management plan. Flowing from the revised management plan will be a new planning application and a new environmental statement, which we will publish. Work on that will involve exploring the case for closing the junction between the A303 and the A344, on which we must have a detailed assessment and public consultation. I look forward to co-operating with the hon. Member for Salisbury to ensure that that progresses as smoothly as possible, because on it will depend the need for a public inquiry. We have wasted no time—we had our first meeting on the second working day after the announcement of 6 December. At this stage, I cannot comment further on all the costs and funding streams, but I am determined that we will have a set of exciting proposals in the shortest possible time. That being the case, I am sure that the Heritage Lottery Fund will be very interested to hear about them, but as the hon. Gentleman knows, decisions on such matters are for the trustees of the fund and not for this House or the Government. We have had a good debate in which I hope we have aired the issue in full. I think that we all share certain concerns and some disappointment regarding the current position. However, I trust that I have made it clear that the Government have a huge commitment as we move into the latest phase of delivering our goal, which must be to provide the right environment for Stonehenge in keeping with its world heritage status. We must do that in the shortest possible time, while adhering to proper procedures and public consultation. I ask all hon. Members for their co-operation throughout that process, and we shall report to the UNESCO committee for its meeting next July. With those comments, I wish hon. Members a happy and peaceful Christmas. I look forward to pressing ahead with this important work in the new year. There is a lot to be done and it is an enormous privilege for me to be associated with this important piece of work.