Stonehenge campaigners have lost their legal challenge against a road tunnel on the A303 near the ancient site—however, the plans have already been scrapped
Shortly after taking office in July, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the government was dropping the controversial proposals due to budget constraints. By then, however, Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site’s appeal had already been heard.
In a judgment handed down last week, R (Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site) v Secretary of State for Transport and others [2024] EWCA Civ 1227, the court dismissed the appeal, rejecting six of the seven grounds.
Save Stonehenge had argued that the government’s case for the 13km dual carriageway was based on a flawed analysis of figures, and could cause irreparable damage to a historic site featuring Bronze Age burial mounds and Neolithic monuments.
Handing down the judgment, the court stated its role was apply the law and ‘not to gauge the environmental or societal merits of the development proposed, or to second guess the decision-maker’s exercise of planning judgment’.
