Stonehenge saga

The Government has decided not to go ahead with tunnelling the A303, where it passes the Stonehenge World Heritage site, on the grounds of cost. The estimated budget for the proposed 2.1km (short) tunnel option had risen from £223m at the time of the Public Inquiry in 2004 to the latest reported cost estimate of £540m: this reflects a number of factors including ground conditions, more stringent requirements for tunnelling work and rapid inflation in construction costs.

According to the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/7103371.stm 'the A303 Stonehenge Improvement from the time the scheme entered the roads programme in the late 1990s has so far cost £19m. The cost of the public inquiry in 2004 was £3m'.

In addition, the deteriorating relationship between English Heritage, owners of the stones and the National Trust, owner of the surrounding landscape, has been one of the byproducts of the process.

English Heritage: 'However it is encouraging than the Government recognizes that improving the setting of the Stones and the visitor facilities is a priority. English Heritage will work closely with other stakeholders to look into alternative ways to achieve this.’ http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.12710

National Trust: ‘taking into account the heritage and environmental needs of the one of the world’s most important landscapes. The Trust has consistently argued that without the funding for an appropriate long term solution, the priority should be of working together to deliver short term improvements within the Stonehenge landscape. We look forward to working with Government, Wiltshire County Council , English Heritage and others to achieve this’.

ICOMOS UK welcomed the Government's commitment to improving the setting of Stonehenge and ‘the recognition of the significance of environmental constraints across the whole of this iconic World Heritage Site'. Along with other bodies it is pressing for more immediate smaller scale improvements to the landscape, see http://icomos-uk.org/news/

UK National Commission for UNESCO is ‘most disappointed’, pointing to twenty years of indecision, half a dozen options and the full democratic process of a Public inquiry that led to the Inspector’s recommendation of the Published Scheme.