Back in December, government plans for a two-mile road tunnel close to Stonehenge caused what was described as a ‘David and Goliath battle’ between the local government and campaigners eager to protect the globally-renowned landmark.
The High Court blocked the project in 2021 but the government went and reapproved it in summer of last year. So, campaigners from Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site (SSWHS) made a second High Court bid to try and stop the tunnel. But this week, the High Court dismissed their claim, finding most parts of their case to be ‘unarguable’.
The idea of the £1.7 billion tunnel is to ease congestion on the A303 between Amesbury and Berwick Down, which currently runs close to Stonehenge. By diverting traffic underground, it would supposedly enhance the flow of vehicles and improve the overall transportation network in the area.
In his ruling, the judge declared that ministers had ‘rightly focused on the relevant policies’ and that the campaigners' evidence ‘provides no basis for undermining that conclusion’.
SSWHS argued that the scheme would ‘destroy’ seven acres of surrounding landscape and could even lead to the site losing its Unesco World Heritage status. During the hearing, campaigners claimed that the government gave ‘unlawful consideration of alternatives’ and that National Highways ‘failed to acknowledge the heritage harm’.
On the flipside, the government and National Highways say that the benefits ‘outweigh the harms’ and removing the road from the immediate vicinity would create an uninterrupted landscape, allowing visitors to experience the monument in its full historical context. As a result, improved accessibility to Stonehenge could attract more tourists and create increased revenue for local businesses.
Historic England also backs the scheme. Its chief exec, Duncan Wilson, said: ‘We firmly believe that putting much of the busy, noisy and intrusive A303 road into a tunnel past Stonehenge is right for the World Heritage Site.
‘This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to restore this internationally-important landscape, which has been of great importance to people for over 5,000 years.’
Its not all over for campaigners just yet, though. Another part of the legal bid, which is over the Department for Transport's environmental impact assessment, is set to be decided at a later date.
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