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No deal, Bob!
July 20, 2006, 9:09 pm
Tarmac have shrugged off the bloody nose they received when their obnoxious application to quarry away the archaeology of the Thornborough Complex was refused and are having another try. All in the spirit of caring for heritage, you understand.
The latest ploy is to ask for a smaller bit of the cake, 31% less, and claim that this - in the words of their quarry manager, Bob Nicholson - "serves to demonstrate that we understand the concerns of the community, the county council and English Heritage.''
Well, not quite Del Bo..., sorry, Bob. You demonstrated scant understanding of English Heritage's concerns a few short weeks ago didn't you, when you publicly described what had been found at the target site as an "incredibly small amount of badly damaged archaeology" and "not nationally important"! Or when you badmouthed the whole Thornborough Complex, saying "the truth is, Thornborough is not as famous a Stonehenge and the majority of visitors' reactions are that of serious disappointment"? Or when you scoffed at the idea of it being World Heritage class?
You did know that English Heritage had just said that what was found WAS nationally important? Didn't you? Of course you did Bob. Just as you knew that they have long regarded Thornborough as the most important site between Stonehenge and the Orkneys? And that three of their committee members had just gone up there and "all agreed that the site and wider landscape were of World Heritage class, in the top league of prehistoric landscapes"? So when you claim to be "understanding English Heritage's concerns", I think most people would forgive us if we regarded you as wantonly blind and a philistine to boot?
What about when you said English Heritage "don't have a particularly good record on the Thornborough Henges" and went into great detail about how much of the landscape has been destroyed, bit by bit. How did that happen Bob? Was it English Heritage that quarried it away? We do believe it wasn't. What do you believe Bob? Really believe? And what do you think they meant by this, formally written into their minutes -
"Members were extremely concerned about the piecemeal approach to what they considered an exceptional landscape and which had resulted in its gradual eating away."
Do you believe they were castigating themselves... or someone else? Was it a coded message to you saying "Come on Bob, have another go"? Seriously Bob, do you believe that? Really believe that? And in having another go, do you really believe you're "demonstrating an understanding" of their concerns? Really? No, we mean really?
Finally, what about your recent public musings in which you all but said English Heritage were crooked for using "their professional judgement" rather than your preferred scoring method because "Perhaps EH knew that, if they did score the archaeology, inevitably they too would find that it wasn't nationally important?" That was pretty amazing wasn't it? Suggesting English Heritage are dodgy hypocrites with a set agenda. We doubt that. Thornborough couldn't be THAT unlucky, could it?
Tell you what Del-Bob. If you want to lean over backwards to preserve Thornborough from unnecessary damage, why not lean over backwards, pick up your suitcase and scuttle off somewhere else. And take Wodney with you.
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