AMBITIOUS plans to provide Stonehenge with a top-class visitor centre and rid the World Heritage site of the modern-day clutter of roads, traffic and fencing hit the jackpot this week - not just once, but twice.
It was revealed yesterday that the venture that has been talked of for the past 16 years is to get millions of pounds of national lottery and government funding. The visitor complex - or gateway centre, as it is being called - and other enhancement proposals for the monument have been pledged £26m from the Heritage Lottery Fund, subject to the project receiving planning permission.
And on top of that, the government is to weigh in with an initial £10m towards the project.
The government contribution is expected to swell by many millions of pounds, once the Highways Agency gets round to dualling the A303 West Country holiday route past the stones and building a short tunnel to conceal traffic using the route from the view of tourists.
News of the more immediate cash boost which, with the inclusion of an English Heritage contribution of £11.7m totals £47.7m, was disclosed at a joint press conference hosted in Salisbury yesterday by chairman of English Heritage Sir Neil Cossons and National Trust chairman Charles Nunneley.
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