Last edited 28 Jul 2024

Stonehenge tunnel

[edit] Overview

On 12 September 2017, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling published plans for the £1.6 billion A303 Stonehenge upgrade, a key part of the ‘South West expressway’ linking the M3 and the south-west.

The plans include a new tunnel near Stonehenge which will allow the 2 halves of the 6,500 acre World Heritage site to be reconnected, and will remove the blight of traffic from the Stonehenge landscape.

A public consultation was held earlier in 2017, and following this and further engagement with local communities, heritage groups, archaeologists, historians and engineers, Highways England has produced modified plans, which move the position of one of the entrances to the tunnel to avoid conflicting with the solstice alignment.

The tunnel will be at least 1.8 miles long, closely following the existing A303 route, but 50 metres furhter away from the monument. The government has also committed to upgrading the remaining sections of the A303 between the M3 and M5 to dual carriageway standard

Chris Grayling said; “The A303 upgrade between Amesbury and Berwick Down is a key part of the government’s £15 billion road strategy - the biggest investment in roads in a generation. The scheme includes the 1.8 mile-long tunnel, a free-flowing dual carriageway and a much-needed bypass north of Winterbourne Stoke.”

Highways England chief executive Jim O’Sullivan said; “The A303 and the World Heritage site has suffered from congestion for many years. This scheme will enhance, protect and restore tranquillity to one of the UK’s most iconic landscapes. We have listened to feedback from consultation and believe this preferred route will help improve traffic flow, reduce rat-running on the surrounding roads, bringing improvements to local communities and benefits to the south-west economy.”

Secretary of State for Culture, Karen Bradley said; “This investment from the government will help make the visitor experience much more enjoyable and this is good news for local residents and businesses who will benefit from the new route. The government will also continue to work closely with key heritage bodies to ensure this scheme respects and protects the Stonehenge World Heritage site.”

[edit] Updates

In February 2018, Highways England’s amended plans for the road tunnel went on show at a series of public events. Since the September 2017 consultation, the designs have been amended to try to appease groups concerned about the impact of the project. Highways England say their advised route avoids monuments and barrow burial mounds, as well as reconnecting the World Heritage Site. The plans involve a tunnel that, at just under 2 miles (3 km), is slightly longer than previously designs, with a grass-covered canopy to help the road blend into the landscape. However, fresh concerns have been raised about the new plan creating a route for vehicles on the surface, closer to the monument.

Transport secretary Mark Harper confirmed a development consent order that was granted for a revised scheme to widen roads and excavate a two-mile tunnel near the Unesco world heritage site of Stonehenge (Application for the Proposed A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down Development Consent Order [Planning Act 2008]).

A tunnel scheme to reduce the negative impact of the A303 on Stonehenge was first announced in 2014. This would allow for the restoration of the integrity of the ancient site. The submitted scheme in 2018 was not supported by the planning inspector or the local and heritage communities, but in 2020 the then transport secretary Grant Shapps approved the initial scheme against the planning inspector’s recommendation.

This 2020 decision was quashed by the high court in 2021 on the basis that the decision had not considered the impacts of the proposed development on the significance of all relevant heritage assets, and had failed to take into account the relevant merits of potential alternative tunnel options compared to the proposed western cutting and portals.

In 2021 Unesco confirmed that Stonehenge could be stripped of its world heritage status, on the basis that a road tunnel would irreversibly damage an area of ‘outstanding universal value’. Unesco recommended that the site should be placed on the list of world heritage in danger unless significant changes to planned renovations occurred.

Following the quashing order, the Department for Transport and National Highways (formerly Highways England) looked into the alternative options, and new consultations with interested parties commenced.

In approving the scheme in July 2023, Mark Harper stated that he was ‘satisfied there is a clear need’ for the new tunnel. The project’s ‘harm on spatial, visual relations and settings is less than substantial, and should be weighed against the public benefits,’ he explained. Following on his decision to grant a new development consent order, a second high court challenge was issued in August 2023.

Source: ‘The secretary of state disagrees’ in the Institute of Historic Building Conservation’s (IHBC’s) Context 178, published in December 2023, written by Alexandra Fairclough, conservation officer for Cheshire East, a lecturer and a member of the IHBC legal panel. A former planning inspector, she was called to the bar in 2009, and before that was IHBC law and practice coordinator.