Activists rally at meeting of National Trust
The beat of samba drums was heard on Saturday morning outside one of Bath’s most iconic Georgian landmarks where a bastion of the British establishment had gathered.
The landmark was the 1771 Assembly Rooms, the pillar of the British establishment was the National Trust which was holding its annual general meeting and the protest outside, by Extinction Rebellion, was all about Stonehenge and Barclays Bank. The demonstration included street theatre from the “Blackbirds” group.
The National Trust is the owner of large swathes of land surrounding Stonehenge, whilst the monument itself is owned by English Heritage.
The trust has supported the construction of a two mile tunnel at the notorious bottleneck on the A303 since the project was proposed in 2014.
Almost 130,000 trust members voted at the meeting, and affirmed its support for the £1.7 billion tunnel, removing a large part of the road which they believe damages the Stonehenge landscape.
The trust states on its website: “It will reunite the prehistoric landscape, protect the special qualities of the World Heritage Site, reconnect habitats and help people to discover and enjoy more of the landscape.”
A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion said: “There is no place for road expansion at this level at a time of
climate emergency, and the more than £2bn that it will cost, during a cost of living crisis, could be better spent.”
They also urged the NT to cut its links with Barclays Bank which Extinction Rebellion says committed in March 2020 to producing “net zero” pollution by 2050.
“Barclays Bank wants us to believe they are leading the transition to a greener energy future, but they are actually continuing with massive financing of oil and gas,” said local representative Dave Searby.
“The National Trust should have nothing to do with Barclays.”