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The government has given the green light to a controversial £ 1.7bn road tunnel under Stonehenge, as activists vowed to continue the battle to oppose it.
Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps overruled planning inspectors’ recommendation to pass a development consent order Thursday, which will allow the nearby A303 highway to be converted to a dual carriageway and tunnel under the old site.
The decision was greeted with consternation by Druids, environmental activists, and some archaeologists. There were predictions that objectors would travel from around the world to protest the project.
The road scheme, designed to address traffic jams on a major route into south-west England, has bitterly divided opinion, with Historic England and the National Trust arguing that diverting underground roads would improve the site.
The inspectors’ report, recommending denial of consent, was delivered in January but was not made public until now. The planning permit will include mitigation work, and inspectors will acknowledge possible “substantial damage” to the cultural heritage, landscape and visual impact around Stonehenge.
English Heritage welcomed the decision as a “historic day for Stonehenge.” Executive Director Kate Mavor said: “Placing the noisy and intrusive A303 inside a tunnel will bring Stonehenge together with the surrounding prehistoric landscape and help future generations to better understand and appreciate this wonder of the world.”
Highways England said it would be a “sensitive and transformative” road scheme that would return the landscape to its original surroundings and speed travel to and from the Southwest.
It will build an eight-mile stretch of dual carriageway, including the two-mile tunnel under the world heritage site, some 50 meters further from the stones than the existing A303 route. He said the works would avoid important archaeological sites and would not interfere with winter solstice views.
Derek Parody, Highways England’s project manager for the scheme, said it would “conserve and improve” the site, and that road builders were working closely with English Heritage, the National Trust, Historic England and the independent scientific committee A303.
However, at least one committee member warned that half a million artifacts could be lost in the construction of the tunnel, the portals of which lie within the general heritage site.
The activists have six weeks to request a judicial review of the decision in the higher court.
Tom Holland, the chairman of the Stonehenge Alliance, which launched a petition that attracted 125,000 signatures to block the scheme, said: “We will continue to oppose it because we believe this is a dire decision for millennia.”
Professor David Jacques, who heads the Blick Mead archaeological project, said the decision was an “international scandal.” He said, “It’s absolutely heartbreaking. I am amazed that the government could have approved the plan in light of what we are discovering, let alone all the other ongoing projects. “
Blick Mead experts have made finds that help the story of how ancient humans lived at the Stonehenge site since the ice age. The finds have included perfectly preserved wild cattle hoof prints, known as uros, a mile and a half from the stone circle.
Jacques stated that very important material would be lost. “It is a tremendously stupid decision. It will have consequences not just for the UK but for the whole world. It’s not just about Stonehenge, it’s about understanding how prehistoric people lived. This is an international scandal: people should bow their heads in shame. “
Arthur Pendragon, a druid who claims to be an incarnation of the ancient and future king of England, said he believed people would travel from all over the world to protest.
“This could be the largest protest in history,” said Pendragon, a veteran of previous protests on the highways, such as the Newbury Beltway. He said he would stand in front of the bulldozers. Boris Johnson claimed that he would lie down in front of the bulldozers to stop Heathrow’s third runway. I will actually lie down in front of the bulldozers to stop this. “
Pendragon said the eastern portal would damage archeology while the western one was “virtually on a site line with the setting sun at the winter solstice.” He added: “If they really wanted to do this, they should have done it correctly with a much longer tunnel, not one that appears at both ends at the world heritage site.”
Rollo Maughfling, the archdruid of Stonehenge and Great Britain, said: “It is a great shame. It is clear that many important discoveries about ancient man are still being made that will be put in jeopardy.
Mark Bush, a lawyer who has advised opponents of the plan, said: “This decision was made against the advice of the independent planning inspection panel and places the UK in substantial violation of its obligations under an international treaty – the World Heritage Convention.
“This is an extraordinary step. The decision will inevitably be subject to judicial review. ”
Andy Rhind-Tutt, Former Mayor of Amesbury and Chairman of the Salisbury Chamber of Commerce, said: “Granting permission to desecrate one of the world’s most important landscapes without benefit of transportation and in doing so deny future generations the opportunity To explore this vast site undisturbed, let alone significant hydrogeological changes in the aquifers that feed the River Avon, is absolutely amazing. “
