Long Man “charitised”

The ostomy stunt at the Long Man of Wilmington that we mentioned two days ago went ahead.

 

We understand that it was authorised on the basis it would cause no physical damage and wouldn’t be for long. Our thesis is that damage to respect for monuments (especially hill figures it seems) can lead to physical damage to monuments.

Setting of Duddo Stone Circle saved again, for a while.

Not for the first time the setting of Duddo Stone Circle, said to be the most complete and dramatically situated of Northumbrian stone circles, has been under threat from a proposal to build a wind turbine.

“DUDDO STONES  (1836)

Scottish company 3R Energy Solutons want to build a 74-metre, 800 kilowatt machine on farmland at Shoreswood, south of Berwick but the proposal has just been unanimously rejected by county councillors, following advice from the County Archaeologist that it would result in “significant and unacceptable” impact on the setting of the monument which is less than two miles  away.

Case officer Frances Wilkinson said: “It is considered that the proposal would have a very damaging effect on the appreciation of the Duddo Stone Circle from the main approach and that its setting would not be preserved. Significant weight does need to be given to the benefits of the proposal, however, the harm to the setting of the Duddo Stone Circle SAM (scheduled ancient monument) is considered to outweigh these benefits. The proposal is consequently considered to be unacceptable.”

However, this is unlikely to be the end of the matter as the developer has said it will be lodging an appeal. Given that the balance between the need for energy and the need to preserve heritage comes down to personal opinion there is no certainty that the Inspector won’t reverse the decision.