Stonehenge, new plan approved for tunnel near archaeological site

The U.K. government has approved plans to build the A303 road tunnel near the world-famous archaeological site of Stonehenge-a project that has been talked about since 2021, but which threatens to take Stonehenge off the World Heritage list. However, the project was approved on Friday by the Department of Transport: it will cost £1.7 billion and will affect 3.2 kilometers of road between the locations of Amesbury and Berwick Down in Wiltshire. The plan was initially approved as early as 2020, but was later made to be withdrawn by theHigh Court of Justice in London (a court of first instance for administrative matters). This necessitated a new plan that took into account the points raised by the court.The transport secretary, Mark Harper, has now said he is satisfied with the new tunnel, saying that “the harm on visual and spatial relationships is less than substantial and should be weighed against the benefits” brought by the project. But it is likely that preservation associations, led by the Stonehenge Alliance, which is fighting in the front row to block the tunnel, are already at work studying the new plan and finding reasons on which to start a new legal process .

The tunnel would serve to relieve traffic congestion along the major thoroughfare: in fact, the plan also calls for lane doubling (according to the highways agency, in fact, the section of the A303 near Stonehenge is affected by higher vehicle flows than the road can handle). Unesco, however, had remarked that the infrastructure would heavily alter the landscape around Stonehenge, and suggested either a longer, less impactful tunnel or a change to the A303 route. Opponents, however, do not believe it is such an important piece of infrastructure that it should justify such a high expense, and a change to the landscape of England’s most beloved archaeological site. “At best,” said Tom Holland, chairman of the Stonehenge Alliance, “this would be a grotesque decision, but at a time when the country is facing so much expense in a financial crisis such as the one we are going through, this desecration of a world heritage site is the height of madness, an act of vandalism that puts Britain to shame.”

Of a contrary view was the opinion of Caroline Thomas, a Wiltshire councillor who serves on the local transport committee: “We are delighted,” she said, “that consent has once again been granted for the A303 Stonehenge project and can now go ahead. This huge infrastructure project represents a significant investment in Wiltshire that will boost the economy of both our county and the wider region, unlocking jobs and investment. Along with the construction, there will also be a comprehensive program of archaeological mitigation, which will enhance our understanding of the World Heritage site.”

Image: the A303 near Stonehenge. Photo: Pam Brophy

Stonehenge, new plan approved for tunnel near archaeological site

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