A tunnel will be built under Stonehenge but UNESCO will not agree

Tunnel yes, no, maybe but, finally, after years of projects, protests and bureaucracy, it looks like an underground highway will be built near the Stonehenge site: Tory-led United Kingdom government Rishi Sunak, Recently approved plans for construction. The estimated cost of the project is £1.7 billion and preliminary work could start as early as 2024. The tunnel was previously approved by the former UK Transport Secretary in November 2020. Grant ShappsBut a High Court ruling in 2021 ruled against the project.

Transport secretary is pushing again for implementation Mark Harper, Member of the Conservative Party. According to the plans, the A303 road, which runs through the south of England and passes close to the iconic Neolithic monument in Amesbury, Wiltshire, will be turned into a dual carriageway tunnel, blocking traffic, which is heavy in the area. Instead a public walkway and a cycle path will be built on the old layout.

But several bodies have warned against the project. The government agency Planning Inspectorate said this could cause “permanent and irreversible damage” to the land and the famous cromlech. UNESCO also intervened in the matter and threatened to deprive the monument of its status as a World Heritage Site and add it to the list of cultural heritage in danger if the plan went ahead. Alternatively, UNESCO has proposed either lengthening the tunnel, which would improve the landscape by covering more of the new carriageway at high public expense, or diverting the A303 around Stonehenge entirely. The current plan would risk substantially modifying some of the morphological features of the area with a negative impact on the integrity of the site.

In a report justifying his decision, Harper said he had considered these concerns, but concluded that “the damage caused by the tunnel to spatial relationships, scenery and regional features is less than substantial and must be weighed against the public benefits.” Historian and documentary presenter Tom Holland, who is chairman of the anti-tunneling group Stonehenge Alliance, commented on Twitter: “At most it would be a bizarre decision, but at a time when the country is facing so many bills, so much financial shortfall, this desecration of a World Heritage site is the height of madness, an act of vandalism that shames Britain.”

Stonehenge is maintained by the English Heritage charity, which supports government schemes, as well as Historic England and the National Trust. “Thousands of vehicles pass Stonehenge on the A303 every day,” English Heritage said. “Heavy traffic and constant road noise impair our enjoyment and understanding of the monument, and the road cuts away stones from much of the surrounding pristine landscape.”