Stonehenge Winter Solstice 2016 - Proposed Changes.

English Heritage are worried about increasing numbers of people attending the Winter Solstice -
"Our focus for 2016 is to develop a strategy to manage both the growth in attendance and the parking which will become the plan for Winter Solstice for the foreseeable future.... The increasing numbers attending the Winter Solstice (350 in 2000 to 7000 in 2015) affect your ability to have safe managed open access"
Strangely they claim 7000 for last year in the email but only 5000 on their website... and the number doesn't seem to be growing...

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about-us/search-news/winter-solstice-2015

English Heritage:
"22 DECEMBER 2015 - WINTER SOLSTICE CELEBRATED AT STONEHENGE
The winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year and the first day of the winter season. This year around five thousand people gathered at Stonehenge to celebrate the winter solstice."

2012  Attendance: 5000  

http://www.insidewiltshire.co.uk/2012-winter-solstice-at-stonehenge/   Peter Carson, Head of Stonehenge at English Heritage said: “over 5000 people celebrated the winter solstice at Stonehenge this morning. The weather was particularly fine and the ancient stones were bathed in beautiful winter sunshine.”

2013 Attendance: 3500  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-25466177  Kate Davies, who manages Stonehenge for English Heritage, said: "We were delighted to welcome over 3,500 people to Stonehenge to celebrate winter solstice.

2014 Attendance: 6400  

http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/story/2014-12-22/2014-winter-solstice-at-stonehenge/ 6,400 people were at Stonehenge this morning to mark the winter solstice.This is twice the number who participated last year - Stonehenge managers say because it is dry, and schools are out for Christmas.

Kate Davies, Stonehenge General Manager, talks more about the enduring appeal of this ancient tradition.

2015  Attendance: 5000  

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about-us/search-news/winter-solstice-2015

Around five thousand people gathered at Stonehenge this morning to celebrate the winter solstice. Braving wet and windy weather, visitors marked the arrival of the sun with pagan rituals and celebrations around the monument.

Susie Milbank, one of the visitors attending the celebrations, said: "This is my second winter solstice, and it is fabulous. The atmosphere here is absolutely incredible, and everyone here is so relaxed, peaceful, and happy. It is all very well-humoured".

18/10/2016 - Letter from English Heritage:

STONEHENGE

CONSULTATION ON WINTER SOLSTICE

ROUND TABLE GROUP MEMBERS

Winter Solstice is the second largest gathering for managed open access at

Stonehenge. Since 2000 we have seen attendances grow from 350 to more

than 7000, with over 1200 cars parked on and around site. Our focus for 2016

is to develop a strategy to manage both the growth in attendance and the

parking which will become the plan for Winter Solstice for the foreseeable

future.

Part of our planning process includes consulting with those most affected by

what we do. In addition to working with local residents and landowners to

ensure that disruption to them is minimised, we want to involve those for

whom the solstices at Stonehenge are important.

For us to do this effectively, we ask that you do the following:

1. Please read through this document. We have explained here the

challenges we’re facing and laid out the rough plan that we’ve prepared

for 2016 for you to consider.

2. Please complete the attached questionnaire with your thoughts and

suggestions in response to our proposals.

The feedback you provide will shape our discussions at the Round Table Group meeting on the 3rd November.

Introduction

We know that change is hard and that the decisions we make have an impact,

but throughout our planning for managed open access for solstice at

Stonehenge you, the members of the Round Table Group, and the groups you

represent remain an absolute priority. You are the groups and individuals for

whom free access began in 2000 and we continue to wholeheartedly support

your right to enter the stones at no charge during periods of open access. This

has not changed.

What has changed, however, or at least increased, are the challenges: some are

financial and some are logistical. Many of these challenges will be best

addressed through collaborative working with our partners - Wiltshire Council

and Wiltshire Police - and with you, members of the Round Table. We have

discussed options with the council and the police, and now we would

appreciate your input. It’s important to note, however that some of the things

outlined here are immovable – we have to work with what we’ve got.

What is affecting our planning:

Increasing attendances

· The increasing numbers attending the Winter Solstice (350 in 2000 to 7000

in 2015) affect your ability to have safe managed open access. That’s the

most important reason why we need to manage the numbers, not to

discourage those people for whom Stonehenge is spiritually important.

· More people mean that greater infrastructure and support is needed in

order to make it safe, and this increases the costs.

· Sadly, greater numbers of people mean damage is more likely in the

monument field itself which is at its most vulnerable during the winter

months. It took the ground over a month to recover from such heavy

footfall during last year’s Winter Solstice.

Parking

· We are not able to provide parking for the increasing number of cars that

turn up. Last year there were around 1200 cars: our car park takes 500

cars, there is no sizeable hard-standing for us to rent and turn into an

overflow car park and we cannot hire fields as the winter weather renders

fields unusable.

· As in previous years, the partners will apply for a TTRO on Byway 12.

However as damage and the resulting cost to Wiltshire Council of repairs

have increased significantly in recent years, we cannot depend on the

possibility of providing an area for gathering and parking as we have done in

the past whilst this closure is on. If it is not available, then the pressure on

parking is further increased.

· Last year we parked cars in Larkhill and this caused massive disruption for

local residents. As a result this space is not available for 2016 and is unlikely

to be an option again.

Financial Pressure

All of the organisations who support solstice operate within significant financial

constraints. As public sector bodies Wiltshire Council and Wiltshire Police are

under tremendous pressure to spend less not more. English Heritage has

recently become a not-for-profit charity where every penny earned (and saved)

is ploughed back into the conservation and preservation of hundreds of historic

and prehistoric sites and monuments in our care. It will in the future be

receiving no outside funding, save what donors voluntarily give it. This is a

formidable financial challenge, and a new one.

Each year managing safe and sustainable open access at Stonehenge for the

solstices and equinoxes costs English Heritage alone over £300, 000. While the

income raised from the parking charge we introduced for the Summer Solstice

made a small contribution to this significant outlay, the pressure remains the

same. And like us none of our partners can afford for the cost of solstice to

increase.

What we are proposing:

Because no solution to the increasing numbers and lack of available parking was

going to be easy, we began looking at options a few months ago. We need a

strategy that will serve for at least a few years, and as we cannot depend on the

byway remaining open for parking over the Winter Solstice period, we have

come up with the following as the basis of our parking strategy. As we saw

around 1200 cars parking for Winter Solstice last year, you will see that we are

currently significantly short:

1. Parking in the visitor centre car park. Disabled parking will be in this area

and there will be a disabled bus running, as usual, from the visitor centre.

Including disabled parking, there will be space for 500 vehicles in the

visitor centre car park. We will need to ensure that there is sufficient

lighting and staffing to make the whole of the car park safe.

2. Parking on a small piece of privately-owned hard-standing. This will

provide space for about 300 cars and there will be a park-and-ride bus

service from this parking area to the visitor centre. We will need to turn

this space into a safe car park with lighting and staffing.

3. Salisbury Reds public bus service from Salisbury to Stonehenge.

4. No parking will be allowed on the A344 – this is to maintain the Blue

Route, to ensure the safety of pedestrians who will be using the walkers’

lane, and to maintain the route for the disabled buses.

What we would like from you:

Attached is a questionnaire to help shape your thoughts and provide us with

feedback around parking at Winter Solstice.

This is your opportunity to let us know your thoughts on our proposals and, if

you would like, to make suggestions on how you think we might manage

numbers and how parking for Winter Solstice could work, given the limitations

we have outlined and the financial constrains within which we operate. We

would welcome thoughts on these questions emailed to

solstice.stonehenge@english-heritage.org.uk by 30th October. We can

discuss all practical suggestions and comments that come in between now and

the end of the month, alongside the next steps, at the 3rd November Round

Table Group meeting.

We look forward to receiving your thoughts and seeing you in November.

WINTER SOLSTICE QUESTIONNAIRE

Please have a think through these questions, within the context of the

limitations laid out above, and let us have your feedback by 30 October, emailed

to Solstice.Stonehenge@english-heritage.org.uk or posted to Lucy Barker,

Stonehenge Visitor Centre, Amesbury, Wilts, SP4 7DE.

Q1: Do you have any suggestions for additional parking locations?

Q2: What do you think we could do to reduce the number of cars coming to

site? We already encourage car-sharing and there is a public bus-service – is

there anything else we haven’t thought of?

Q3: Given the challenges outlined and the financial constraints within which the

charity and our partners operate please use this space to provide comments,

suggestions or feedback that will help us to manage costs whilst still providing

safe, free managed open access for Winter Solstice going forward.

Solstice is changing. We all need to work together to keep it special.

Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback.