The possible loss of Stonehenge‘s World Heritage Site status due to a proposed £2.5billion tunnel under the iconic landmark would be an “international embarrassment”, a campaigner has said.
Under current proposals, a two-mile tunnel would be built near the world famous monument and eight miles of the A303 from Amesbury to Berwick Down in Wiltshire overhauled.
Campaigners have written to delegates due to attend UNESCO’s 10-day long World Heritage Convention in New Delhi from Sunday (July 21), urging them to add Stonehenge to the UN heritage agency’s danger list, which would take the site a step closer to losing its coveted status.
UNESCO describes the ancient wonder as a landscape “without parallel”, testifying to the British landmark’s unique and global significance.
But campaigners argue the top UK tourist attraction is under serious threat from the previous Government’s decision to proceed with a “damaging” road scheme right through its heart.
John Adams, who chairs The Stonehenge Alliance, told Express.co.uk: “It would be an international embarrassment and humiliation for the new Government if Stonehenge were to lose its World Heritage Site status. It would be a bold decision to scrap the tunnel scheme.
“Whether Labour are on top of this yet remains to be seen. The officials in the Department for Transport and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport are people who have worked on this scheme for years with National Highways. They are probably briefing ministers on why it should be supported.”
He suggested the new Government may find itself stuck between a choice to save £2.5bn by scrapping the scheme and its ambition to turbo-charge economic growth, as outlined in the King’s Speech on Wednesday (July 17).
The Stonehenge site is made up of a series of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments as well as the famous stone circle, which dates back some 5,000 years.
If it were to lose its World Heritage Site status, it would join Liverpool’s waterfront, which was deleted from UNESCO’s list which designates places of “outstanding” value to mankind.
Campaigners battling to stop the planned road and tunnel scheme this week launched their latest legal challenge at the Court of Appeal. They want a High Court judge to review the decision to approve the project.
Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site (SSWHS) had previously challenged the scheme after it was given a green light. Mr Justice Holgate dismissed the campaigners’ bid to overturn the decision in a ruling earlier this year.
This week David Wolfe KC told the Court of Appeal approval for the development in July 2023 by Huw Merriman, then Minister of State for Rail and HS2, breached a duty to act fairly.
He told the court Mr Merriman wrongly gave no consideration to the risk of Stonehenge being delisted as a World Heritage Site.
James Strachan KC, acting for the Department for Transport (DfT), said in written submissions Mr Merriman wasn’t provided with any summary of representations from SSWHS “nor even with a summary of National Highways’ position” on the site’s preferred route.
The High Court previously quashed the National Highways plan in July 2021 amid concerns about the environmental impact on the site, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. But two years later the tunnel was approved by the DfT.
National Highways has argued the tunnel will remove the sight and sound of traffic passing the site and cut journey times.
This week’s hearing before Sir Keith Lindblom, Lord Justice Lewis and Lord Justice Stuart-Smith has concluded with a written decision expected at a later date.
Campaigners have also handed officials a petition with 240,000 signatures from people in 147 countries, urging the Government not to do any more damage to the Stonehenge landscape.
Instead, they argue that if widening the A303 around Stonehenge is deemed to be essential, then it should be done by means of a deep bored tunnel at least three miles long.
Anything shorter would cause “irreparable damage” to the landscape and be in breach of the World Heritage Convention, the campaigners claim.
Mr Adams said of the site: “It’s one of the most prehistoric landscapes in Europe if not the world. It’s rich with burial mounds.
“Being a World Heritage Site means it is of global significance not just for current but for future generations. Don’t build a monstrosity through the middle of it just to solve a 21st century traffic problem.”
National Highways and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport were approached for comment.