Photo Gallery

This is a view of the White Horse taken from the line of the proposed road. Imagine HGVs going right across the photo as they make their way to the south Coast ports. At the moment very few lorries on the A350 are part of through traffic going to Poole and Southampton. However with the construction of a series of bypasses to speed up the A350, this would change as HGVs switched from other routes. The noise of the Westbury Eastern Bypass would be audible to visitors at the White Horse, rather like a clothes drier in the background.

This photograph shows the Wellhead Valley along which the new road would run. The noise predicted in this valley is such that it would be filled with a constant din - it would no longer be the tranquil place it is now for many people from Westbury and West Wiltshire who come and walk or ride here, bird watch or simply have a picnic. The Wessex Way runs along the top of the ridge; further up is the no-go MOD area of the Salisbury Plain. This is part of the reason why this area is so valuable to the people of Westbury - they are essentially hemmed in by MOD land this side of town, whilst the other side of Westbury is increasingly being urbanised.

This popular footpath and bridleway would be severed by the road just below where the photo was taken. As walkers went into the woods, the din of traffic would be awful. As they climbed up the slope towards the Wessex Way running along the top of the hill, the noise would hardly improve and there would be no escaping from it. Can the rich wildlife in these woods - part of which are an SSSI - really tolerate the intrusion of a large new road?

These ancient coppiced hazel trees would either be felled or be right at the foot of the new road. Home to dormice (nibbled nuts have been found by consultants from the mammal society in this location and a dormouse nest nearby) this valued habitat now very rare would be ruined by the road. The construction of a highway through an area this valuable in terms of wildlife is contrary to European Law, as well as against regional and national policy.

In 2003 consultants from the Mammal Society were commissioned by ACA and the Westbury Bypass Alliance to search for dormice. In one of the tubes put out to entice dormice to visit, a nest was found. Dormice prefer woodland edge, and areas with a high diversity of trees and shrubs, including species producing berries or nuts, which is exactly the kind of habitat at the edge of the Wellhead Valley. Favoured habitats include coppiced hazel woodland, and woodland dominated by oak and holly, silver birch, or oak and ash. The best habitat is ancient semi-natural woodland that is lightly managed. However, even in such prime habitat, Dormouse densities will only ever reach 8-10 individuals per hectare, and they are usually found at much lower densities. t is therfore very difficult to find evidence of dormice in a given location, so the discoverey of a nest and nibbled nuts is a credit to the consultants who did the investigations that two nests were found.

This is a photo of the scarp slope of the Salisbury Plain near Westbury. The new road carrying more and more lorries and cars, would run at the foot of the hill.