Plans to construct a tunnel near Stonehenge have been approved by the Department for Transport
By Sammy Jenkins & PA Media
BBC News
Plans to construct a road tunnel near Stonehenge have been approved.
The Department for Transport approved the £1.7bn two-mile (3.2km) tunnel from Amesbury to Berwick Down in Wiltshire on Friday.
Planning permission was first given in 2020 but was later quashed by the High Court in 2021 after campaigns by locals.
Highways England said it wanted to build the tunnel to reduce traffic and cut journey times on the A303.
The plan involves overhauling eight miles the major road which goes from London to South West England.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said in a 64-page letter he was “satisfied there is a clear need” for the new tunnel and the project’s “harm on spatial, visual relations and settings is less than substantial and should be weighed against the public benefits”.
The letter said there is a “number of benefits that weight significantly in favour of development”.
He said in “respect of cultural heritage and the historic environment”, he recognised “he must give great weight to the conservation” of the World Unesco Heritage Site and accepts “there will be harm as a result of the development to cultural heritage and the historic environment”.
Saga ‘as old as stones’
The plans were initially given the go-ahead in November 202 by then-transport secretary Grant Shapps despite the Planning Inspectorate officials saying it would case “permanent, irreversible harm” to the area.
The Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site alliance successfully challenged his decision in the High Court.
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.
“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.”
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