The labour government has axed the planned A303 tunnel at the Stonehenge World Heritage Site in a raft of measures to plug an estimated £22bn hole in public finances left by the outgoing government.
“The Transport Secretary will undertake a thorough review of unfunded commitments. As part of that work, she has agreed not to move forward with projects that the previous government refused to publicly cancel, despite knowing full well that they were unaffordable, this includes proposed work on the A303 and the A27,” says chancellor of the exchequer, Rachel Reeves.
As a proposed solution by National Highways to ongoing congestion issues, the tunnel was to be an eight mile bypass of the existing A303 bottleneck. Passing near the 5000 year old site, it became subject to controversy due to concerns over damage to the archaeological, environmental and spiritual heritage value of the surrounding area.
“The money should be spent instead on improving public transport links to and around the Southwest. That would be the best way of reducing pressure on the A303, while still retaining the view of the Stones for passing travellers,” says John Adams, chair of the Stonehenge Alliance.
£160m of public funds have been spent on works so far out of the originally cited £1.7bn. Estimates of the final cost had since increased to £2.4bn.
“We have seen from the National Audit Office the chaos that the previous government has presided over, projects over budget and delayed again and again. The spending audit has revealed 1bn of unfunded transport projects that have been committed to next year,” adds Reeves.
Environmental and heritage campaigners will be celebrating this announcement, following significant local protest against the tunnel, including an encampment by Stonehenge Heritage Action Group and legal challenges from Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site in May which had delayed the proposals.
