After three decades of proposals, plans, regulatory approval, planning permission, conveyor belt installation and legal challenges, the story of a road tunnel placed underneath part of Stonehenge has finally concluded.
As reported by the BBC, the A303 tunnel plans were cancelled as part of a review of public spending and in consultation with the Transport Secretary.
As with every aspect of the Stonehenge tunnel, this decision proved to be controversial, although, unlike the previous chapters of the tale, it also appears to be the final conclusion.
Epilogue
Since ancient history, there have always been people taking journeys around Stonehenge, but an increasingly significant consequence of the ancient monument’s popularity after becoming a World Heritage site is that it has significantly increased traffic and congestion in the areas around it.
Specifically, the towns of Amesbury and Winterbourne Stoke were constantly congested and over the safe capacity for the road, causing not only disruption for people who live and work around this part of Wiltshire but also increasing the number of accidents relative to the national average.
As early as 1995, plans to use a tunnel boring machine had been proposed to create a tunnel under part of the Stonehenge site, although this was replaced by a cut-and-cover plan that would have potentially caused far more archaeological damage.
A wide range of different proposals were made between 1999’s cut and cover tunnel and the final approval of a plan in 2017, including roundabouts, upgrading the road to a dual carriageway and nearly half a dozen potential tunnel routes, some of which avoided known ancient archaeological sites and others did not.
The final proposal, approved in 2017 but initially proposed in 2013, was a plan that involved a short tunnel where both entrances were within the heritage site location, increasing the risk of permanent destruction of historic artefacts and leading to condemnation by UNESCO.
Regardless, this plan received final approval in 2020 and a Development Consent Order that overruled the denial of planning permission, as well as multiple petitions and protests. This led to the first of several legal challenges.
This initial legal challenge led to a ruling in 2021 that the initial approval was unlawful due to the failure to consider alternative plans and sites that would have been less historically destructive.
There was another approval of the plans with no major alterations in 2023, leading to a second legal challenge. However, in early 2024, this legal dispute was dismissed, and it appeared there might be a route forward.
In early May 2024, an appeal was granted by campaigners challenging the initial dismissed legal challenge, which meant that the tunnel was delayed until at least mid-July 2024, although the calling of a General Election meant that any legal hearings would be delayed until later.
This ultimately turned out to be a moot point as the new government announced on 29th July 2024 that the plans would not be going ahead regardless due to the costs involved.
What happens next is a matter of significant debate, as whilst the 2013 plans were somewhat controversial, there is a need for a Stonehenge bypass or road tunnel near the site to relieve congestion, and TBM operators will be ready when new plans are approved.
