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Heritage will not halt new road

2:08pm Thursday 30th August 2007

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Photograph of the Author By Mark Bowen »

ENGLISH Heritage will not stop the Rotherwas access road being built, the Hereford Times can reveal.

Advisors from English Heritage have decided they are happy with Herefordshire Council's plans to continue building the road over the archaeological discovery, termed the Rotherwas Ribbon, which dates back to the same period as Stonehenge.

Scientific advisors from the organisation have recommended that the engineering solution proposed by the council will provide long-term protection for the archaeological find.

Work to preserve the Ribbon under layers of protective membranes and sand has already begun and further work can now be carried out.

English Heritage is also considering financial support for further archaeological excavations outside of the road corridor to enable the Ribbon's history to be more fully understood.

Despite the advice from English Heritage, councillors still have to consider a range of options to discuss how the Bronze Age monument can be best safeguarded for future generations.

These include abandoning the road, which the council says would cost £6 million, building a bridge at the cost of £10 million, or creating a £110 million tunnel underneath the Ribbon.

If any of these options are approved council officers are warning that the county faces serious financial challenges and other important projects would be halted.

Instead, officers are recommending that the building of the road continues, at a cost of £400,000, and that the existing find is protected, in line with archaeological best practice.

Additionally, the presumed course of the Ribbon, both north and south of the access road, should be investigated to ensure opportunities for tourism, heritage and education are explored.

The council stopped work on the road around the site of the Ribbon earlier this year when the significance of the find was established.

Plans to protect it were initially put on hold after public demands to see it - around 1,000 people were given escorted tours during July.

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Your Say Your Herefordshire

jameswilliamturner@b tinternet., Herefordshire says...
8:47am Fri 31 Aug 07

Okay, so the decision has been made, but please can we ensure that the site and our heritage is not covered and forgotten. I was one of the many that was unable to view the site first hand, and know that our historic landscape contains many fantastic examples of man's building and influence throughout history. Lets do more, lets make Herefordshire more accessible.

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jameswilliamturner@b tinternet., Herefordshire says...
8:47am Fri 31 Aug 07

Okay, so the decision has been made, but please can we ensure that the site and our heritage is not covered and forgotten. I was one of the many that was unable to view the site first hand, and know that our historic landscape contains many fantastic examples of man's building and influence throughout history. Lets do more, lets make Herefordshire more accessible.

Report this post »

aremach, Hereford says...
5:59pm Fri 31 Aug 07

Under normal circumstances no-one would suggest pouring concrete over something like this and allowing heavy machinery on top to shake it to pieces. What a shame English Heritage buckled under pressure from a Council desperate to save face and build a road which government, inspectors and consultants all said we don't need and will make local traffic worse - and all at council tax payer expense.

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aremach, Hereford says...
5:59pm Fri 31 Aug 07

Under normal circumstances no-one would suggest pouring concrete over something like this and allowing heavy machinery on top to shake it to pieces. What a shame English Heritage buckled under pressure from a Council desperate to save face and build a road which government, inspectors and consultants all said we don't need and will make local traffic worse - and all at council tax payer expense.

Report this post »

Sue Jones, Hereford says...
8:15pm Mon 3 Sep 07

Surely we must call time on indulging the anti road protesters. English Heritage is happy with the council plans to protect the Rotherwas Ribbon and may even help Hereford develop it as a tourist attraction (if people really will pay to see it). Hereford needs the jobs that the road will bring for young people. We must look to the future for the benefit of the whole community - not just a few who are more interested in politics and protest for its own sake.

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Sue Jones, Hereford says...
8:15pm Mon 3 Sep 07

Surely we must call time on indulging the anti road protesters. English Heritage is happy with the council plans to protect the Rotherwas Ribbon and may even help Hereford develop it as a tourist attraction (if people really will pay to see it). Hereford needs the jobs that the road will bring for young people. We must look to the future for the benefit of the whole community - not just a few who are more interested in politics and protest for its own sake.

Report this post »

Morrigan, Cardiff says...
1:27pm Tue 4 Sep 07

I doubt the new road will make new jobs.
The amount of times councils and government have promised that this scheme and that will make new jobs and be benificial to the economy and they do no such thing.
How often do we hear that by tearing up our countryside and destroying our heritage it's a good thinh and how better off we'll be.
Well if you think that air,noise and light pollution are good things are are benificial to communitys then we must live in a very strange world indeed.
Yes lets look to the future, lets destroy our heritage and countryside so councils and government can line their pockets.
We can not just look at things practically. Our society would be poorer if all we cared about was economics and money.
Building more roads and airports does not mean we are making progress.Rather we seem to be sliding rapidly down hill.
Physical and mental health are already suffering from increasing traffic and building schemes.
We need our heritage and countryside to counteract this.

Report this post »

Morrigan, Cardiff says...
1:27pm Tue 4 Sep 07

I doubt the new road will make new jobs.
The amount of times councils and government have promised that this scheme and that will make new jobs and be benificial to the economy and they do no such thing.
How often do we hear that by tearing up our countryside and destroying our heritage it's a good thinh and how better off we'll be.
Well if you think that air,noise and light pollution are good things are are benificial to communitys then we must live in a very strange world indeed.
Yes lets look to the future, lets destroy our heritage and countryside so councils and government can line their pockets.
We can not just look at things practically. Our society would be poorer if all we cared about was economics and money.
Building more roads and airports does not mean we are making progress.Rather we seem to be sliding rapidly down hill.
Physical and mental health are already suffering from increasing traffic and building schemes.
We need our heritage and countryside to counteract this.

Report this post »

Graham Banks, Hereford says...
8:57pm Wed 5 Sep 07

I don't believe that those who want to stop the road for the business park really care a jot about the Rotherwas Ribbon. Those who do, the archaeologists who discovered it, say it must be covered over to protect it. If the protesters get their way, and the Ribbon is left uncovered to the elements, it will soon be destroyed. I think we should take the advice of English Heritage and preserve the monument for the people who come after us.

Report this post »

Graham Banks, Hereford says...
8:57pm Wed 5 Sep 07

I don't believe that those who want to stop the road for the business park really care a jot about the Rotherwas Ribbon. Those who do, the archaeologists who discovered it, say it must be covered over to protect it. If the protesters get their way, and the Ribbon is left uncovered to the elements, it will soon be destroyed. I think we should take the advice of English Heritage and preserve the monument for the people who come after us.

Report this post »

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