A tanker collecting sewage from the Visitor Centre

A tanker collecting sewage from the Visitor Centre

Each day this week the Heritage Journal is asking English Heritage for transparency in relation to their management of Stonehenge. Today we ask English Heritage – when are you please going to make a public statement about the toilet and sewage problems arising since the opening of the Stonehenge Visitor Centre?

The new Visitor Centre scheme was designed to cope with surface water and foul drainage, but on the very first day of opening there were problems apparently with the toilets. Recently a fleet of portable toilet trailers were installed alongside the Visitor Centre, in the wake of which it seems the toilets still smell and a local suggested that jet cleaning has been taking place.  The pong has otherwise featured in online commentary, and a regularly visiting taxi driver quipped it was induced by the shock of the entry fees. The whiff was even noticeable in the membership reception area after heavy rain, despite being off the wind tunnel admission area.

What then are these toilet problems and what has caused them? Are they exacerbated by increased visitor numbers and parking areas, and is it just after heavy rainfall? How are measures to tackle these problems being funded, and where has the foul waste been ending up during these difficulties? Indeed, is there a threatened impact on the River Avon Special Area of Conservation and the River Till SSSI that is legally protected under the European Habitats Directive?

If you have a question you would like English Heritage to answer about their management of Stonehenge, send it in to the Journal, if publishable we will see what we can do!

For other questions put Stonehenge Questions in our search bar.