Dear Sir,
READING Ray Fleming's nostrum for improving the infrastructure in and around Stonehenge left me a choice of laughing or crying. Maybe both go together. He wants to bring in the UN and have them bully us by threatening to withdraw Stonehenge's status as a World Heritage Site. First, the laughter. Stonehenge has survived thousands of years without international assistance or approval. It will endure without notice from UNESCO. Its World Heritage Site designation adds no prestige. It seems to be a travel catalogue of obvious curiosities one might like to visit. Read the travel section of the Sunday papers and you get the same list.
Second, the tears. Getting anything done grows ever more complex. Clear it with the locals. Pass it to the county officials. Gain permission from London. Do not forget to check with Brussels. This is more than enough cooks to spoil the broth. But now we are to send off to New York, or wherever UNESCO's nabobs rake in their salaries and over-generous pensions, and, cap in hand, inquire what standards we will have to meet in order to keep the precious World Heritage Site medallion. Peeling off the layers of an onion can bring tears to one's eyes. Having to peel away layers of bureaucrats is worse. Please, no more roadblocks to action. Of all the pounds I pay in taxes the ones that return me the fewest pence in value are those sent abroad to the United Nations. Keep them out of it.
Harold Terry Southampton UK.
Letters to the Editor