Campaigners for early improvements to the surroundings of Stonehenge have expressed delight that a number of high profile organisations have now called for the same thing.
     "Everyone who has visited Stonehenge knows what a mess the surroundings are" said George Chaplin of Timewatch. "There is a lot to do, yet there has been nothing but talking and arguing for years. But it struck us that some first steps could be taken almost straight away, particularly closing part of the side road that runs right past the stones, and that everyone would agree about that. So we got together with Heritage Action and launched a call for 'Achievable Stonehenge', obvious improvements that could be started very soon without waiting for the longer term issues to be finalised."
     "It seems we really struck a chord" said fellow campaigner Nigel Swift of Heritage Action. "Everyone seems to think it is a great idea and this week the whole concept has had a huge boost. A group of major heritage organisations like the National Trust, the Council for British Archaeology, Friends of the Earth and lots of others have issued a joint press release calling for the same approach. The government is due to make an announcement about the whole Stonehenge issue this summer." said Mr Swift. "They are running a public consultation to gauge opinion and it looks as if the public is very clear about this issue at least and definitely wants the job tackled in two stages with the first stage made a matter of urgency. We are hoping that a huge number of people will sign our petition. If we can achieve that, then together with the call from the other organisations, the government will be sent a message that can't be ignored," Swift added.
     The "Stop the Neglect of Stonehenge" campaign and petition can be seen at www.heritageaction.org.

Source: Heritage Action Press Release (4 April 2006)