North Yorkshire County Council has set up a consultation group to look at the future of Thornborough Henges near Ripon (England), one of Britain’s most important archaeological areas. The group will include local people and representatives from English Heritage and English Nature. Members will meet every six weeks to exchange information and views.
     In October 2003 the council was criticised by Dr. Mark Horton from the University of Bristol for not doing enough to protect the henges, a concentration of late Neolithic and Bronze Age sites, from damage from quarrying. Says group chairman Councillor Peter Sowray: “The group has been set up to reflect the County Council’s role in dealing with the henges. Further mineral working would have major implications not only for the henges and surrounding archaeological landscape but also in terms of the impact on local communities at Thornborough and Nosterfield”.
     The Tarmac construction company extracts more than 500,000 tonnes of sand and gravel each year from Nosterfield Quarry, but says that nothing it is planning would damage the henges.

Source: BBC News (2 March 2004)