A full-sized replica of Stonehenge will be built on a beach in western Australia after a small town gave the green light for construction in a bid to draw tourists.
The shire council in Esperance, 460 miles south-west of Perth, has approved plans for the A$1.2m (£722,749) project, which it hopes will generate much-needed tourist revenue for the small coastal community – its only attraction at the moment is small piece of the US Skylab which fell onto a nearby farm in 1979.
“Stonehenge Down Under” is being spearheaded by the local Rotary club, which wants to build the structure from local pink granite on a council-owned site overlooking Twilight Beach, just outside the town.
“Obviously some people may wonder why you’d build Stonehenge at Esperance, but the stone is already here and I think it’s a good opportunity. I reckon it’s quite fascinating,” he said.
Although local tourism operators have thrown their weight behind the prehistoric theme park, other townspeople remain sceptical – an earlier Stonehenge proposal ran into financial difficulties. Rotary, however, is confident that it can raise the necessary funds to complete the new project with giant cut stones donated by a local quarry. Work on Stonehenge Mk 2 is due to begin shortly.
MERLIN @ STONEHENGE
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