During the construction of the Rotherwas Access Road contractors uncovered a 4000 year old "ribbon" of fire-cracked stones. This was hugely inconvenient for a Council which was pressing ahead with the controversial road against the advice of inspectors who argued that there was no economic case for it.
The discovery, made shortly before the local elections, was hidden from even the local elected councillor for two months until after the election. It was only revealed due to the investigations of a conscientious BBC Reporter. Emails released under the Freedom of Information act prove that officers did know this was a politically charged discovery and should have therefore informed elected members.
The find was described by the Council's own archeologist as equal in importance to Stonehenge. Indeed, the Chair of the Salisbury Tourism Partnership said the find could be a fantastic tourist attraction and provide an excellent income stream for the Herefordshire economy if developed sensitively.
The Council nevertheless continued with building the road without even undertaking a proper assessment of the extent of the Ribbon or even protecting it from the rain.
This secretive approach was brought to the attention of the Scrutiny Committee by several councillors including Cllr. Lloyd-Hayes, who also wished to investigate why the council had ignored such hugh potential for cultural tourism and a boost to the local economy. However, the council's handling of the discovery was nodded through by the Conservative majority on the committee who did not speak throughout the debate. It then emerged that the scrutiny process itself breaks government rules on the way in which it should be run. Scrutiny committees are supposed to be non political.
The whole saga throws the inadequacies of Herefordshire Council's procedures into the light. Robust, articulate and intelligent scrutiny is not welcomed by the present administration and this was endorsed by the Crookhall report into the ICT scandal on 23rd November 2007.
For full details of the Rotherwas Ribbon and the flawed way the Council has handled it's discovery please visit the campaign website:
www.rotherwasribbon.com
For more details and background on the road to nowhere visit www.dinedorhillaction.co.uk
Local residents are also campaigning against housing which the government inspector said was inappropriate - visit the website: www.savebullinghope.co.uk
