Latest bid to overturn Stonehenge Tunnel scheme to be heard today
Campaigners will be at London's Court of Appeal
Last updated 15th Jul 2024
A campaign group fighting to stop the A303 Stonehenge Tunnel project takes their latest appeal to court today in a fresh bid to cancel the scheme.
Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site (SSWHS) say the new government could save everyone time and money by scrapping the £1 billion project immediately.
They say action by number 10 would be in line with chancellor Rachel Reeves' request that transport and energy secretaries prioritise decisions on infrastructure projects that have been "sitting unresolved for far too long".
The group add that it would reduce the likelihood of the site being placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
UNESCO are meeting in India next week and will decide on the recommendation to place Stonehenge on the World Heritage in Danger list, which would put the site one step away from losing its World Heritage status.
National Highways say the scheme would reduce congestion on the A303, but SSWHS are urging the judges to overturn a previous decision to allow work to begin.
Stonehenge Alliance chair and one of the SSHWS directors, John Adams, said:
"The Court of Appeal will hear why we believe that the decision to grant the DCO and the reasons for dismissing our challenge, were wrong. Labour could save us all a lot of time and money by scrapping the scheme now.
"This would spare our international blushes and rebuild this country’s reputation for looking after its heritage.”
Tom Holland, president of the Stonehenge Alliance:
“Any scheme that manages to be at once ineffective, hugely damaging and grotesquely expensive is ripe for cancellation. The new government should seize the opportunity to consign the Stonehenge Tunnel to the dustbin where it belongs.”