Work on Stonehenge tunnel could start next year

The road scheme has been 'divisive', local MP John Glen said

Work could start on the Stonehenge Tunnel project as soon as next year.

The £1.7bn two-mile (3.2km) tunnel from Amesbury to Berwick Down was approved for a second time by the government on Friday.

It is hoped it will ease traffic along the A303 past the stones, and stop people using villages such as Shrewton and Amesbury as rat runs.

But MP for Salisbury John Glen has warned the project could still go back to judicial review.

"I'm pretty confident there will be another legal challenge because if you are impeccably opposed to it you will find a reason, and that is what happened last year," he said.

"We will have to go through that process... but that will be the last opportunity I believe."

He added: "I am of course aware of how divisive this issue is, but for the vast majority of local people, this is the right decision."

The tunnel will be built under the World Heritage Site, approximately 200m from the Stonehenge monument

The A303 is a congestion hotspot, with drivers heading to and from the South West during peak holiday periods often stuck in long queues.

National Highways' project director for the A303 Stonehenge scheme, Derek Parody, said: "We're currently analysing the detailed changes within the Development Consent Order and assessing timescales but we anticipate being able to start preparatory work in 2024."

Planning permission was first given in 2020 but was later quashed by the High Court in 2021 after amid concern about the environmental impact on the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The scheme, which has been backed by Wiltshire Council, involves overhauling eight miles of the major road which goes from London to South West England.

Highways England said it wanted to build the tunnel to reduce traffic and cut journey times on the A303

Ministers and transport chiefs say they have made changes to the plans, and signing off the scheme in a 64-page letter on Friday, Transport Secretary Mark Harper said he was "satisfied there is a clear need" for the new tunnel.

National Highways chief executive Nick Harris said: "The decision follows a lot of work on a comprehensive year-long process to reassess our Development Consent Order, looking in detail at possible alternatives, also including cumulative carbon and heritage issues."

There is now a six-week period in which parties can lodge an intention to legally challenge the decision.

In the meantime, National Highways said it will be renewing its plans to prepare for the scheme.

Campaigners say the tunnel will cause irreversible damage to the Unesco World Heritage site

Opponents have confirmed they are currently considering launching another legal challenge.

In a statement Stonehenge Alliance president Tom Holland said: "The decision of Mark Harper to green-light the building of a tunnel through a stretch of the World Heritage Site that surrounds Stonehenge is as inexplicable as it is disgraceful.

"Certainly, no one can be in any doubt that the scheme will inflict 'permanent, irreversible harm' on a landscape that is the supreme icon of British archaeology."