Plans to construct a £1.7bn road tunnel near Stonehenge have been approved following a years-long battle to protect the monument.
Transport secretary Mark Harper has granted a development consent order (DCO) to construct the two-mile passage near the Unesco world heritage site on the A303 in Wiltshire.
In a 64-page letter granting fresh approval, the Department for Transport said Mr Harper is “satisfied” that the project’s “harm on spatial, visual relations and settings is less than substantial and should be weighed against the public benefits”.
It comes despite previous advice from experts that such a project could cause “permanent, irreversible harm” to the area.
A DCO previously issued for the project was quashed by the High Court in July 2021 amid concern about the environmental impact on the monument.
At that time, plans were halted and the monument was declared “safe” from the threat of “irreversible harm”. It followed a year of campaigning against the scheme by Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site (SSWHS).
The plans, which have now been given the green light, involve overhauling eight miles of the A303, including digging the two-mile tunnel. However, legal routes remain available for people to challenge the decision.
Plans involve overhauling eight miles of the A303, pictured here, including digging the two-mile tunnel
(PA Archive)
The A303 is a congestion hotspot, with drivers heading to and from the South West during peak holiday periods often becoming stuck in long queues.
Highways England hopes the underpass will ease traffic and reduce journey times on the road, which runs from southwest England to London.
In November 2020, the transport secretary at the time, Grant Shapps, gave the go-ahead to the project despite advice from Planning Inspectorate officials that it would cause “permanent, irreversible harm” to the area.
The SSWHS alliance successfully challenged his decision in the High Court the following year.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “This saga is starting to feel almost as old as the stones themselves, and it’s not over yet. The likelihood must be that objectors will already be poring over the secretary of state’s lengthy and detailed decision letter, looking for grounds on which to launch another legal challenge.
Transport secretary Mark Harper has approved the plan
(PA Wire)
“Quite apart from the risk of further legal delays, the next hurdle for the project is getting the funding in place to proceed, despite the economic squeeze on the Department for Transport’s budget.
“While users of the A303 might be encouraged by today’s decision, it feels like they’ll still be able to enjoy the current view of the stones from the road for quite some time to come. Since 1991 there have been dozens of different proposals for removing traffic from the Stonehenge site.”
The site, together with the stone circle in nearby Avebury, was declared by Unesco to be a world heritage site of outstanding universal value in 1986.
University of Buckingham archaeologist Professor David Jacques, who has led digs at nearby Blickmead for a decade, previously commented that the tunnel would “clearly compromise” the historical value of the site.
He added: “The Stonehenge world heritage site landscape is unutterably precious and you tamper with it at your peril – you cannot make it come back.”
