Archaeologists at work on the Rotherwas Ribbon. © Herefordshire County Council
Campaigners fighting to preserve the Rotherwas Ribbon say they will be taking the “issue further” after they claimed a council scrutiny committee decision to endorse a plan to build a road over the Bronze Age find was invalid.
The 4,000-year-old pathway of stones was discovered during work to build a relief road to an industrial estate near Hereford.
Herefordshire Council’s environment scrutiny committee called in a cabinet decision to build the relief road over the archaeological find – also known as the Dinedor Serpent – and endorsed the council’s decision on Monday September 24 2007.
Now campaigners and councillors - who oppose the decision to preserve the ribbon for future generations under a protective layer and build the road over it – are questioning the validity of the scrutiny committee process.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Marcelle Lloyd-Hayes sat on the scrutiny committee and voted against the decision: “We have no intention of giving up on an issue of transparency and democracy. The overwhelming support for openness is being ignored.”
Dr Keith Ray, Herefordshire County Archaeologist at the dig site. © Herefordshire County Council
Campaigners and opposition councillors who sat on the committee claim the decision was invalid for a number of reasons, including a failure to discuss certain evidence pertaining to the importance of the find, and a lack of key witnesses.
However, Councillor Bob Matthews, chair of the environment scrutiny committee, explained the committee had sought to “achieve a balance” in accommodating many strongly held views.
The Committee also dismissed accusations that the council had kept the find secret from the public but it did note that information flow within the council had ‘fell short of that normally expected’. It recommended work should be set in place to address for the future the problems presented by this period when cabinet and councillor roles were in a state of flux.
The recommendations of the committee will now go back to the council’s cabinet for further consideration.
More information on the Ribbon can be found on the Herefordshire Archaeology website. See the campaigners’ website at www.rotherwasribbon.com.
