Stonehenge 'risks losing UNESCO world heritage status' because of road project

16 December 2023 , 11:22

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Stonehenge could be de-listed, it has been warned (Image: Getty Images)

Stonehenge is at risk of being “de-listed” as a Unesco world heritage site if plans for a nearby road project featuring a tunnel go ahead.

The Department for Transport (DfT) approved the tunnel from Amesbury to Berwick Down in Wiltshire for the second time in July. Furious campaigners say the Government was “irrational to give no weight” to the UN agency’s warning when they said approval of the £1.7 billion scheme warranted its inclusion on the “list of world heritage sites in danger”.

National Highways previously said the tunnel will remove the sight and sound of traffic passing the site and cut journey times on roads nearby. The Government argues the need for the scheme and its benefits “outweighed the harms”.

Demonstrators pose during a protest outside of the The Royal Courts of Justice this week (AFP via Getty Images)

Lawyers for Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site (SSWHS) say this would mark “the first step being taken towards de-listing” and would be “the direct result” of the Government’s decision. SSWHS is challenging Transport Secretary Mark Harper’s backing of plans, which include the two-mile tunnel, to overhaul eight miles of the A303.

At a hearing in London starting on Tuesday, campaigners’ lawyers sought permission to make another attempt to halt the plans. David Wolfe KC, for SSWHS, said in written arguments campaigners had set out the effects of the site being de-listed by Unesco, arguing that its “value… must be considered to this and future generations”.

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He said this is “not just in monetary terms, but research value, cultural importance, emblematic value, and reputation of the UK as showing to the world that it cares for its world heritage site and respects its obligations in the world heritage convention”.

He added the Government had acted unlawfully by not considering its carbon budget delivery plan and net zero delivery plan in its decision, with this being a “fatal omission”.

National Highways previously said the tunnel will remove the sight and sound of traffic passing the site and cut journey times on roads nearby (AFP via Getty Images)

James Strachan, for the Department for Transport, said in written arguments there was “no inadequacy” in a ministerial briefing over the “hypothetical” risk of world heritage site de-listing. He said: “The world heritage site has not been delisted, nor is it said that it will be de-listed if the… scheme proceeds.”

Then-transport secretary Grant Shapps first gave the green light to the project in November 2020, despite advice from Planning Inspectorate officials that it would cause “permanent, irreversible harm” to the area. The SSWHS alliance successfully challenged his decision in the High Court.

The Stonehenge site, with Avebury, was declared by Unesco to be a world heritage site of outstanding universal value in 1986 on account of the size of the megaliths, the sophistication of their concentric plans and the complexes of neolithic and bronze age sites and monuments.

The A303 is a congestion hotspot, with drivers heading to and from the south west during peak holiday periods often stuck in long queues on the single carriageway stretch near the stones. The road project is classified as nationally significant, which means a development consent order is needed for it to go ahead.

The hearing before Mr Justice Holgate is due to conclude on Thursday, with a ruling expected at a later date.

Antony Clements-Thrower