Stonehenge Alliance Press Release – 29 July 2024
The Stonehenge Alliance [1] has welcomed today’s announcement by Chancellor Rachel Reeves to cancel the £2.5bn A303 Stonehenge scheme [2] as a “low value, unaffordable commitment” [3].
The Stonehenge Alliance believe the road should have been binned in 2020 when it was recommended for refusal, after a six month examination, for the damage it would cause to the World Heritage Site [4]. However, the previous government’s obsession with road building resulted in it approving the scheme despite acknowledging that it would cause permanent and irreversible harm to the World Heritage Site. It was also grotesquely expensive, but even based on National Highways’ own figures the economic case for building was fatally flawed. The road scheme would have been lucky to create 50 pence in economic benefits for every £1 spent [5].
John Adams, chair of the Stonehenge Alliance said:
“This is a vindication of all the work of so many people over so many years from supporters around the world. National Highways’ misguided project was called out for what it was: low value and unaffordable. It was also highly damaging. Now that it has been scrapped, we need to move on. As soon as the budget is there, we need to ensure, as a priority, that local traffic is better managed and rail access to the South West improved.”
Tom Holland, historian and president of the Stonehenge Alliance, said:
“This is wonderful news. This entire monstrous project, a proposal to drive a gash of concrete & tarmac through our most sacred prehistoric landscape, should never have got off the drawing board. That cancelling it will also save £2.5 bn is obviously an additional perk.”
Notes:
[1] The Stonehenge Alliance supporter-organisations are: Ancient Sacred Landscape Network; Campaign to Protect Rural England; Friends of the Earth; Rescue, the British Archaeological Trust; and Transport Action Network.
[2] The £1.7bn is from around 2017 and is clearly out of date as can be seen by this answer to Danny Kruger MP’s Parliamentary question (12 March 2024). This admits that even in 2018, the construction cost was estimated to be £1.9bn with maintenance costs of £8m a year. With construction inflation being so high since then, it is likely that the combined total cost of the scheme is over £2.5bn and that’s before it runs into any difficulties tunnelling in phosphatic chalk.
[3] Rachel Reeves outlined her proposals this afternoon to Parliament. When she spoke on transport starting from 15:47, she said Labour would not go ahead with the A303 Stonehenge scheme, but she didn’t say cancel. However, in the published policy paper the scheme is listed as cancelled (section 3.2)
[4] The Examination Report, dated 2 January, 2020 and written by five planning inspectors, who presided over a six month examination, recommended that the application be refused. It was published on 12 November, 2020, when the Secretary of State made his first decision to approve the scheme.
[5] The scheme’s economic case depends on National Highways claiming that the scheme would deliver £1bn in heritage benefits. But given the Examination Authority recommended refusal for the ‘permanent and irreversible’ harm it would cause the World Heritage Site (see [4] below) and the Secretary of State’s acceptance that the scheme would have a significant impact, this is no longer credible.
National Highways has also tried to boost its economic case by ignoring costs already spent and increasing benefits without providing any evidence for its claims. Even so, the scheme would only deliver at best 50 pence in benefits for every £1 spent. See page 4 onwards of Stonehenge Alliance’s rebuttal of National Highways change to its economic assessment.
Ed: We have publicised the Stonehenge Alliance campaign since November 2020. Here are some of the articles we’ve published.
We want to hear your views. Please send any comments to editor@westenglandbylines.co.uk
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