The chief executive of English Heritage has written a letter to The Guardian outlining his support for the controversial Stonehenge tunnel on the A303 road in England, which last week overturned a legal challenge against it in England’s High Court.
Campaigners led by the Stonehenge Alliance (SA) and Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site (SSWHS) had some initial success in challenging the first plans for a tunnel in 2021, forcing the government to update the scheme. However, they disagreed that the updates protected the site sufficiently and launched new legal challenge against it in the final quarter of 2023.
Last week (ended February 23, 2024) those challenges were thrown out by Mr Justice Holgate, who largely dismissed the claim, finding most parts of their case were “unarguable”.
Now the tunnel is set to begin construction in 2025, with four months’ worth of road closures already announced for the intersecting A360 road, between April and July next year.
Following the recent High Court ruling Dr Nick Merriman, chief executive of English Heritage, which is responsible for the curation of the ancient monument, has made his backing clear in a letter to The Guardian which reads in part:
“Reuniting Stonehenge with the landscape to its north in 2013 showed what will be gained by placing the A303 within a deep tunnel… More people will be able to explore – for free – the wider world heritage site on foot and on bike, taking all the time they need. We are the closest we have ever been to restoring this ancient landscape and giving Stonehenge and the surrounding prehistoric monuments the setting they deserve. And just imagine those views.”
Campaigners argue that the tunnel is not long enough, and the widened road will be more disruptive than the status quo. They also state that there is a risk that UNESCO will strip the site of its World Heritage status, and the organization has previously stated that the tunnel should be longer. As yet, there has been no official comment from UNESCO on the new plans to proceed.
Detractors have vowed to fight on. “If we walk away from this now then potentially UNESCO will put the site on the World Heritage endangered list and remove its status in the longer term,” says Chris Todd, one of the directors of SSWHS. “If this scheme goes ahead, that’s what they’re likely to do because of the huge damage the tunnel will cause. We will not be giving up on this fight.”
