The Group was formed in the Autumn of 1998 when English Heritage put forward their proposal (for the second time!) to locate the new Stonehenge Visitor Centre complex at a site known as "Countess East". The site is located immediately behind a large settlement of residential properties on the A345 - Countess Road, and adjoining the A303 route on it's north side.

The Group comprises residents of Countess Road, Amesbury, and has the firm support of well over 50% of the occupiers of the 135 households in the road and, as far as we know, the passive support of the remainder!

The Visitor Centre proposal is for a modern interpretative centre for the Stonehenge monument, and this long overdue facility is to be welcomed. Since the scheme is to be run as a "private finance initiative" (PFI) however, it will also include commercial facilities such as restaurants, leisure, and retail uses. Until a PFI partner is chosen towards the end of this year (1999) no details are known about the exact form and scale of the development; we do know however that one official estimate has put the future use of the Centre at 1.8 million visitors a year.

The access to this "Gateway to the Stonehenge World Heritage Site" (Sir Jocelyn Stevens - "The Vision") tastefully nestling behind a Burger King, Little Chef, and Travelodge - is to be directly off the Countess roundabout, well known to A303 travellers as the first major traffic congestion black spot west of London. The solution to this problem is simple (say English Heritage) - put traffic signals on the roundabout; as Victor Meldrum might say "we do not believe it". So far there is no commitment whatsoever from English Heritage, their PFI partner, or the Highways Agency to an improvement which is needed, irrespective of the Visitor Centre, i.e. a proper grade separation of the Countess roundabout. WATCH THIS SPACE!

Despite there being some 2,000 Hectares of open space in the World Heritage site, current proposals find it essential to position some 1,800 parking spaces for cars, caravans, and coaches, immediately behind the back gardens of Countess Road. Add to this the extended hours of operation of the Centre, essential to any commercially dominated scheme, and it will be evident that, for the residents of Countess road, implementation of the current proposals will result in permanent misery after the opening in 2003. It's not that English Heritage do not care about people - it's just that they have to have been dead for 3,000 years before they do!

For more information see the What is the plan section, where you can find documents and maps.