The Stonehenge Alliance has written to Secretary of State for Transport  Patrick McLoughlinover its concerns at the short tunnel options being considered for Stonehenge as part of the A303 upgrade.

 It is urging the the minister to investigate the option of a 4.5km tunnel which would avoid significant damage being inflicted on the World Heritage Site.

Recent archaeological investigations, as shown on the BBC mini-series Operation Stonehenge, have discovered a raft of new associated sites in the wider Stonehenge area.  This highlights that we still don’t know everything that is out there.

George McDonic, Chairman of the Stonehenge Alliance said: “The current proposals for a 2.5 to 2.9km tunnel below Stonehenge might sound long enough, but they would still result in significant harm being done to the World Heritage Site. 

"We are urging the Secretary of State to get this right and to protect Britain’s iconic heritage site.

“A 4.5km tunnel might cost more but what price can you place on a landscape that means so much to so many people?  This is part of our history, our past and our culture.  Once damaged, it will be spoilt forever.

The group's letter reads: 

Dear Secretary of State,

Proposals for the A303 at Stonehenge
The Stonehenge Alliance* is a group of non-Government organisations and individuals originally formed in 2001 which maintains a watch over any major new development that would adversely impact on the World Heritage Site (WHS). We are writing to request your intervention in the current process concerning proposed road improvements affecting the site.

The A303 is currently one of six identified road corridors subject to feasibility studies to examine possible improvements. It is most regrettable that this process has focused on road improvements rather than on considering more sustainable transport alternatives.  We have grave concerns about the impacts that the proposed road options might have on the WHS.

Stonehenge is an iconic symbol of Britain’s past people and culture.  It is a significant draw both nationally and internationally and important culturally and economically. Yet as important as the Stones are, it is their context, the surrounding landscape, which helps make them so special. This is recognised in the designation of the Stonehenge WHS which covers nearly 27 square kilometres. The importance of the surrounding landscape was highlighted in the recent BBC TV Operation Stonehenge series which identified numerous new sites in the wider WHS area.

At the last Corridor Feasibility Study Reference Group, a bored tunnel between 2.5 and 2.9km long as well as a northern trunk road diversion, were proposed for the A303 at Stonehenge for further investigation, while a request for a long bored tunnel of at least 4.5km to be costed was dismissed outright. All of the options now under consideration for the A303 at Stonehenge could inflict severe and irreversible damage upon the WHS and its setting and might well lead to the WHS being considered for the World Heritage in Danger List.  A longer tunnel would avoid this.

The current approach appears to be pursuing options contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework and at odds with advice from UNESCO and, notably, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) in its Guidance on Heritage Impact Assessments for Cultural World Heritage Properties (2011).

We urge you to intervene in the study to ensure that a long bored tunnel of at least 4.5km (for which Highways Agency drawings were done c.2001) be examined and costed alongside the shorter tunnel option already put forward by the Corridor Feasibility Study Reference Group. There is real concern about the haste in which the study is being progressed and we request that greater time for consultation and engagement is taken in order to safeguard this iconic cultural asset.

I look forward to your reply.
Yours sincerely,
George McDonic, Chairman, the Stonehenge Alliance