Campaigners have gained a Excessive Court docket battle over the federal government’s ‘illegal’ choice to approve a controversial £1.7billion tunnel close to Stonehenge.
Save Stonehenge World Heritage Web site (SSWHS) challenged Transport Secretary Grant Shapps’ plans to overtake eight miles of the A303, together with the two-mile tunnel.
The go-ahead was given in November final yr, regardless of recommendation from Planning Inspectorate officers that it might trigger ‘everlasting, irreversible hurt’ to the Unesco World Heritage Web site in Wiltshire.
The tunnel is a part of a £27billion masterplan to enhance the nation’s roads, which was introduced in March
The proposed tunnel is south of the present A303, which runs inside a couple of hundred metres of the well-known UNESCO world heritage web site in Wiltshire. Pictured: An artist’s impression of the plans
The tunnel is a part of a £27billion masterplan to enhance the nation’s roads, which was authorised this week.
In a ruling on Friday, Mr Justice Holgate discovered the choice on the tunnel was ‘illegal’ on two grounds.
He mentioned there was a ‘materials error of regulation’ within the decision-making course of as a result of there was no proof of the influence on every particular person asset on the historic web site.
He additionally discovered that Shapps failed to contemplate different schemes, in accordance with the World Heritage Conference and customary regulation.
The choose mentioned: ‘The related circumstances of the current case are wholly distinctive.
These behind the scheme hope it is going to assist deal with congestion and noise across the iconic web site (pictured in March at the beginning of lockdown )
‘On this case the relative deserves of the choice tunnel choices in comparison with the western reducing and portals had been an clearly materials consideration which the (Transport Secretary) was required to evaluate.
‘It was irrational not to take action. This was not merely a related consideration which the (Transport Secretary) may select whether or not or to not keep in mind.
‘I attain this conclusion for a variety of causes, the cumulative impact of which I choose to be overwhelming.’
John Adams, SSWHS director and appearing chairman of the Stonehenge Alliance, mentioned: ‘We couldn’t be extra happy concerning the end result of the authorized problem.
‘The Stonehenge Alliance has campaigned from the beginning for an extended tunnel if a tunnel ought to be thought of vital.
For many years, motorists on the A303, which passes the stone circle, have endured extreme congestion on the favored path to and from the South West
‘Ideally, such a tunnel would start and finish exterior the WHS. However now that we face a local weather emergency, it’s all the extra vital that this ruling ought to be a wake-up name for the Authorities.
‘It ought to look once more at its roads programme and take motion to scale back street site visitors and get rid of any must construct new and wider roads that threaten the surroundings in addition to our cultural heritage.’
Rowan Smith, a Leigh Day solicitor who represented the campaigners, mentioned: ‘It is a enormous victory, which suggests, for now, Stonehenge is secure.
‘The judgment is a transparent vindication of our shopper’s great efforts in campaigning to guard the World Heritage Web site.
‘The event consent for this damaging tunnel has been declared illegal and is now quashed, and the Authorities must return to the drafting board earlier than a brand new choice could be made.
‘In the meantime, one of many nation’s most cherished heritage belongings can’t be harmed.’
A panel of professional inspectors advisable that improvement consent ought to be withheld as a result of the challenge would considerably and completely hurt the integrity and authenticity of the positioning, which incorporates the stone circle and the broader archaeology-rich panorama.
In a report back to Mr Shapps, the officers mentioned everlasting, irreversible hurt, crucial to the excellent common worth of the positioning, or why it’s internationally vital, would happen, ‘affecting not solely our personal, however future generations’.
The Stonehenge web site, along with Avebury, was declared by Unesco to be a World Heritage Web site of Excellent Common Worth in 1986 on account of the scale of the megaliths, the sophistication of their concentric plans and the complexes of Neolithic and Bronze Age websites and monuments.
The proposed tunnel is a part of an funding within the A303 between Amesbury and Berwick Down.
The street, which is a well-liked route for motorists travelling to and from the South West, is commonly severely congested on the only carriageway stretch close to the stones.
Highways England says its plan for a two-mile tunnel will take away the sight and sound of site visitors passing the positioning and minimize journey instances, however some environmentalists and archaeologists have voiced their opposition to the plan attributable to its potential influence on the realm.
The challenge is classed as nationally vital, which suggests a improvement consent order is required for it to go forward.
On Monday, campaigners difficult the £27billion street improvement scheme which included the Stonehenge tunnel had been left ‘shocked’ after dropping their Excessive Court docket bid towards the Division for Transport (DfT).
The Transport Motion Community (Tan) had accused Shapps and the DfT of unlawfully failing to keep in mind the ‘clearly materials’ influence of the Street Funding Technique 2 (RIS2) on attaining local weather change goals.
A £1.7billion plan to construct a tunnel diverting site visitors away from Stonehenge has been challenged in courtroom. Pictured: An artist’s impression of the plans
The plan, revealed in March final yr, will see the development of fifty main street schemes by way of March 2025 – together with plans for the A303 Stonehenge tunnel and the Decrease Thames Crossing linking Kent and Essex.
At a listening to in June, Tan argued the scheme was illegal because the Authorities failed to contemplate commitments to deal with local weather change, made up of the usage of carbon budgets and the legally binding goal to chop emissions to net-zero by 2050.
The group, which helps sustainable transport campaigns, additionally mentioned the scheme had an inevitably ‘undesirable’ influence on the local weather which was ignored by Mr Shapps.
Nonetheless Tan’s bid was rejected on the Excessive Court docket on Monday, though it has vowed to attraction.
A Historic England spokesperson mentioned: ‘We’re upset within the end result of the Judicial Evaluation. It is a missed alternative to take away the intrusive sight and sound of site visitors previous the long-lasting monument and to reunite the exceptional Stonehenge panorama, which has been severed in two by the busy A303 trunk street for many years.
‘We consider that the scheme had the potential to ship a long-lasting optimistic legacy for the World Heritage Web site and we suggested on a rigorous programme of archaeological investigation to make sure the influence on delicate archaeological stays was minimised.
‘Stonehenge is without doubt one of the most vital prehistoric landscapes on the earth and has been of deep significance to individuals for over 5,000 years.
‘We’ll proceed work with companions within the heritage sector and to advise Highways England on any proposals for the A303.’
College of Buckingham archaeologist Professor David Jacques, who has led digs at close by Blickmead for a decade, mentioned the tunnel would have ‘clearly compromised’ the historic worth of the positioning, including: ‘The Stonehenge world heritage web site panorama is unutterably treasured and also you tamper with it at your peril – you can’t make it come again.’
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