TRUTH & RECONCILIATION COMMISSION FOR STONEHENGE |
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TRC 20 REPORT |
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Stonehenge Truth & Reconciliation Commission Meeting, Sunday 10th June 2001
at Hare Warren
I Apologies: Arthur Pendragon & Carrie, Dr Thomas Daffern, Clews Everard, Debbie II Present: Anne Waterhouse (Big Green Gathering), Roy (President of the Astrological Association) & Caroline Gillet, Nora Morris (local resident and Pagan Federation representative), Paul (Stonehenge Campaign), John Dalgleish (local Pagan), George Firsof (Secretary of the Stonehenge Peace Process), Brian Visiondance & Rose, Zac (interested observer), Penny Wyrd, James (musician), Tom, Chris, Willy X, Jes (Stonehenge Campaign), Ruth (musician from the band Space Goats), Andy Van Driva. III Announcements: Clew Everard has suffered an unfortunate accident . Dave Batchelor and Lin have stepped into her shoes and she hopes to be well soon. This is not expected to prevent access to Stonehenge for the Solstice. The group gave funds to pay for flowers and a get well card. PADRAS (Pagan and Druid Rights and Services) are holding a fundraising summer gathering on 27th to 29th July - flyers were circulated and further information is available from George. IV Peace Stewards: Two main issues were discussed under this heading. The group wanted to know why English Heritage require the names in advance of Peace Stewards - no-one present was able to explain. The group never-the-less decided to co-operate as far as feasible with this request. The second issue was that of training. A training event for the Peace Stewards has been organised by George for Tuesday 19th June. He will circulate the venue and details to those volunteers concerned and can be contacted through www.greenleaf.demon.co.uk. V Access to Stonehenge at the Summer Solstice: The discussion here opened with a description of the nature of the managed access over the night of Wednesday 20th June and the morning of Thursday 21st June which is free and includes the following: Byeway 12 will be closed at 0800 on 16th June The last paid tourist admission will be 1300 on 20th June. At 7pm on 20th June the temporary carpark will open. The last admission will be 7am on the 21st June. During this time, the Stonehenge normal carpark will be closed to the public. There will be a new moon (dark, waning) at 11:58am on 21st June. So the night will be very dark. Sunrise is around 4:55am 21st June. The solstice itself is at 8:38AM 21st June. The open access ends at 9am on 21st. Stonehenge opens to the paying public again 10AM on Thursday 21st June. At 2PM on Thursday 21st the temporary car park will be closed and so must be clear. Byeway 12 will then re-open. Other arrangements were as follows: The Access is conditional on there being no outbreak of foot and mouth locally. Signs will be placed on the A303 pointing to the temporary carpark. Disinfenctant on straw will be at all entrances & exits - the disinfectant will be citric acid. Walkers from Amesbury will find the road coned off to allow "pedestrian corridors" where they can walk in safety. No dogs will be allowed on the Stonehenge site. Dogs brought to the entrance, or found wandering will be professionally looked after by the RSPCA in temporary on-site kennels. The group strongly discourages anyone from bringing dogs. Especially as foot and mouth restrictions remain in place nearby. Further inforation on dogs could be found from the English Heritage Website. There will be a minibus service for disabled people between the carpark and Stonehenge, two vehicles in use. Two or three voluntary stewards will be linked to the central control by radio this time. The remainder will use pre-programmed mobile phones. There will be toilets (including for the disabled) on site which will be illuminated and signposted and there will also be illuminated signposted water points. Two vegetarian and non-vegetarian catering vans will be present and St. John's Ambulance personnel will also attend. Welfare facilities will be in the car park and near the entrance to the Stones, A left luggage facility will be near the latter. Access is subject to conditions displayed on the English Heritage web site. Especially, glass will not be allowed on site - all glass bottles will have to be decanted and surrendered to gain access. Dealing in illegal substances will be dealt with severely by the Police. Recycling facilities will be available on site and black bin bags provided. The site is sacred and all people should make an effort to keep it litter free. There is to be no camping on-site. Some people felt that the 13 hours granted were inadequate and that it would be difficult to clear the site quickly enough. It was also generally agreed that many people come to the midsummer solstice aiming for noon - it being mid-day in mid-summer and the middle of the longest day. By focusing on the sunrise and solstice and making it an over-night event, it was encouraging the "night club" aspect while discouraging a more family-friendly time during the day. In considering these issues, however, the group accepted that the 13 hours was better than the 8 hours of last year and that by continued success and trouble free access it might be hoped to improve the hours of access for the future. In response to the problems of clearing the site, the group decided that it was important to have more Peace Stewards stay to the end to help clear the site. The issue of disinfectant caused concern among the group - in particular that children may end up with citric acid in their eyes. It was considered that water may need to be on hand near the disinfectant for such an eventuality. The group also decided to inform the authorities that the left luggage facility would need to be very large. VI After-party: It was also considered that having an authorised 'after-party' would provide an incentive for people to leave and that this should be given support. Such an event should be in Hampshire - to relieve the strain on the Wiltshire Police and it should be planned in co-operation with the Hampshire Constabulary and perhaps the military. This was envisaged as a sort of "running down" event and was not intended to drag on. Superintendant Cockburn in charge of the Police in the Andover area had indicated his support for a Hampshire 'Round Table' meeting for future years where police, the military and others can sit down and discuss this matter. Other possibilities discussed included an entirely seperate event with its own publicity but timed to attract some of the people from Stonehenge as the Solstice access finished. Letters of support had been writen to MoD contacts and the Home Office rep has been in touch with Upavon Defence Estates. This is part of a concerted attempt to relieve pressure on Stonehenge. If a proper permission were arranged, it was suggested that Michael Evis could arrange a good number of portaloos. Also suggested was the excavation of toilet pits by JCB with the land owners' approval. This latter idea was rejected by the group due to the proximity of the river Test and the water table. Generally it was accepted that it was unlikely that all these arrangements could be in place for an authorised event to happen this year, but that the momentum created to date should continue and be intensified, so that there would be the time to make it possible next year. The group reached a consensus that any attempts to hold an unauthorised party near the Solstice, if they could not be avoided altogether, the enthusiasm for such events being known, they should avoid targetting sites in Wiltshire. Nor should there be a connection with the summer solstice arrangents at Stonehenge, which could set back the Peace Process by many years. The group agreed a strong message to this effect should be sent back to the dance community. George also said it would be best if the site Barton Stacey, for which permission had been enquired, was also not targetted, in view of the hope of negotiations for a legalised event there in 2002. VII Generally: It was recognised that PR is an important aspect of the solstice at Stonehenge and that it was not good enough for things to go well but that they had to be perceived to have gone well too. This means that it has to avoid serious attack from the media and politicians and it has to be seen to go well by the Police and English Heritage and that neither suffer serious criticism for their role in it. It was also recognised that the solstice at Stonehenge gives a vast amount of publicity to the site and ensures that it will remain a money-spinner for English Heritage -so there are benefits for them as well as risks. It was felt that the cancellation of Glastonbury this year and the fact that many people regard this as the first summer solstice of the new millenium could contribute to an extremely large turnout. This led to a firm re-iteration of the importance of clearing the site on schedule. With that, the meeting was closed in a few moments of peaceful group meditation.
George Firsoff (Secretary) Many thanks to John Dalgleish (Scribe) and Roy Gillett (Acting Chair) for this document. . |
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