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Tarmac's 'cynical and bogus gift' at Thornborough
August 27, 2005, 10:03 pm
TimeWatch Chairman George Chaplin has launched a withering attack on what he termed "Tarmac's latest stunt" in their ongoing campaign to quarry away the archaeology surrounding the incomparable Thornborough Henges, North Yorkshire.
"Tarmac have offered what amounts to a cynical and bogus gift to the nation" said Mr Chaplin. "They have made a great fuss over their offer to gift some separate land to the community. Initially the offer was conditional upon their current application being successful, although under pressure they've now been forced to say there are no strings attached. So it was never a gracious or disinterested offer, but now that the exact details have come to light it's quite evident it was also a virtually valueless one!
The land they are giving is not under threat; it's a boundary area that they wouldn't have been able to touch so it's of no real value to them. It's a near worthless gift and they should be given no credit for it."
In it's response to Tarmac's "mitigation strategy", of which the gift of land is the centrepiece, Timewatch has also said that the archaeology of the Ladybridge Farm area, Tarmac's current target for quarrying, has been confirmed by English Heritage as being "nationally important" so destroying it would be in conflict with PPG16 - the Government's strict policy on such archaeology.
"Just how Tarmac can continue to say that bodies like English Heritage and the Council for British Archaeology are wrong and that they are right is a mystery" said Mr Chaplin. "But offering not to rob Barclays if they are allowed to rob Nat West (that was never under threat anyway) isn't going to make anyone think their views are believable. If they wish to give the nation a gift we suggest they simply leave Thornborough alone.
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