Anti-Stonehenge Tunnel campaigners deliver petition to Government secretaries
Almost a quarter of a million people signed the petition demanding the project is scrapped
Last updated 16th Jul 2024
A campaign group has delivered a petition with 240,000 signatures calling for the new Government to scrap the Stonehenge Tunnel scheme.
Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site handed the petition, which has backing from people in 147 countries, to the Transport and Culture secretaries in London.
The delivery came on the day their latest legal challenge to the project went to court - with a three day hearing taking place.
The petition states:
NO FURTHER DAMAGE should be done to the archaeological landscape of Stonehenge.
Future generations would be appalled at those who decided that road widening should be at the expense of England’s most iconic World Heritage Site.
If A303 widening at Stonehenge is felt to be essential it should be done by means of a deep bored tunnel at least 4.5km long. Anything shorter would cause irreparable damage to this landscape, in breach of the World Heritage Convention.
Around three dozen people gathered outside London's Royal Courts of Justice with banners and signs demanding the ÂŁ2.5bn project be thrown in the bin.
John Adams, chair of the Stonehenge Alliance said:
“Since the scheme’s announcement in December 2014, costs have escalated from £1.1bn to at least £2.5bn. In reality these will likely exceed £3bn with construction inflation and probable cost overruns.
"Furthermore, at a time when urgent action on climate change is required, building a scheme that will increase emissions by over 2.5bn tonnes of carbon doesn’t make sense. It will make things harder.
“Nearly a quarter of a million people want the new Labour Government to scrap the scheme straightaway. They want to see more benign solutions that respect the WHS’s unique landscape.
"Not only would scrapping the scheme rescue the UK’s international reputation for caring for its heritage, it would save the Treasury a small fortune.”