PLANS to allow a timber palisade and rubble guard already built around the Lansdowne Monument to stay for up to five years have not been welcomed by Calne Town Council's development and planning committee.
The prominent 38-metre stone obelisk, at Oldbury Castle and above Cherhill, was built in 1845 by the 3rd Marquis of Lansdowne and designed by Sir Charles Barry, to commemorate his ancestor, Sir William Petty. The Grade II listed monument needs a £2.7 million renovation to be made safe.
The National Trust has applied for planning permission to keep the palisade, which was put up in 2013, for another five years, so the trust has time to raise money for repairs. They say the only alternative would be to fence off the entire Oldbury hill fort, or close the entire area owned by the National Trust
At a meeting last week, members were concerned that there were no plans in place for the restoration of the monument. They said the plans did not conserve the landscape of the North Wessex Downs AONB and the World Heritage Site.
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