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To: The Secretaries of State for Transport, and Culture, Media and Sport to the UK Government

Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site

No further damage should be done to the archaeological landscape of Stonehenge.
Future generations would be appalled at those who decided that road widening should be at the expense of England’s most iconic World Heritage Site.
If A303 widening at Stonehenge is felt to be essential it should be done by means of a deep bored tunnel at least 4.5km long. Anything shorter would cause irreparable damage to this landscape, in breach of the World Heritage Convention.

Why is this important?

The Government proposes to widen the A303 trunk road to the south west. This road crosses the iconic Stonehenge World Heritage Site (WHS), which has been called “the most archaeologically significant land surface in Europe”. The whole site, extending to beyond the horizons around the famous stones themselves, is c. 5.4 km across. All of it makes up a “huge ancient complex” that holds many secrets yet to be discovered.

The proposal is to put the road into a tunnel where it passes the stones, but the tunnel would be at most only 2.9 km long. This would result in at least 1.6 km of above-ground 21st-century road engineering within the WHS, consisting of new dual carriageway descending in massive trenches to the tunnel portals and possibly a new underpass with slip roads on the western WHS boundary.
Archaeology in the construction zones would be destroyed and the A303 would become the largest ever human intervention in an area fashioned and revered by over a hundred generations of our ancestors.

The whole Stonehenge landscape has an outstanding universal value that is of immense significance for all people for all time, and this transcends any consideration of sorting out a 21st century part-time traffic jam.

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International visitors who want to support the campaign, please visit the campaign website here: http://stonehengealliance.org.uk/our-campaign/petition/ where you will find the running total.
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The photograph of Stonehenge in its landscape setting is courtesy of Jon Westra

How it will be delivered

We plan to deliver the petition to the Secretary of State for Transport before a FINAL decision is made about the A303 Stonehenge Expressway.

Links

Updates

2023-10-23 13:12:39 +0100

KEEP IN TOUCH With the prospect of a Court case, this is a fast moving campaign. Subscribe to our emails https://stonehengealliance.org.uk/subscribe/

2023-10-23 13:11:18 +0100

FIND OUT MORE Please visit our website for the latest news and to answer the most frequently asked question: What's wrong with the A303 Stonehenge road scheme? https://stonehengealliance.org.uk/

2022-07-07 12:12:12 +0100

NOTE ON PETITION TEXT Since setting up the petition in 2014 we have told Government that any road tunnel would need to be long enough to protect the ENTIRE World Heritage Site and its setting. We have also told Government that we believe less damaging options should be explored, including non-road engineering solutions. Read more: https://stonehengealliance.org.uk/our-campaign/petition/

2021-06-02 13:29:05 +0100

WEBINAR: "SAVING STONEHENGE WHS" Thursday 3 June at 7pm.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SAVING BRITAIN’S MOST ICONIC WORLD HERITAGE SITE FROM IRREPARABLE DAMAGE WITH DISTINGUISHED OPPONENTS OF THE ROAD SCHEME

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/saving-stonehenge-world-heritage-site-tickets-155592757125 When signing on go to 'Webinar admissions' > click zero > select 1 in the drop down to enable to register for tickets. Ignore the second row. It's a mistake which we cannot delete.

The event will be recorded. Please subscribe here if you would like to receive a link https://stonehengealliance.org.uk/subscribe/

2021-01-02 22:06:02 +0000

THANK YOU to all donors! The legal challengers, Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site Group, are overwhelmed by the generosity of over 2,000 donors who have met their stretch target of £50,000 within a month! Thank you all so much for your wonderful support which means the challenge had funding to go forward to the next stage. BBC online news reported this fantastic achievement on 31 December 2020 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-55485482?fbclid=IwAR3PFN96MevuZZ9jB7gyMfuccWmB-a3veCcG4FZKtDY01LpJCmvJypD1GLM.

2020-11-24 23:35:48 +0000

Supporters may be interested to read our latest blog explaining why the Examiners of the Stonehenge road scheme recommended refusal. The scale of the highway engineering to be inserted at the Western end of the World Heritage Site is vividly described by them. It is a long read but to understand where this campaign has to go next it is essential. Graphics, maps, captions and hyperlinks have been added. If you can't read it now we suggest you book mark it to read the blog later. https://stonehengealliance.org.uk/a303-stonehenge-examiners-recommended-refusal-why/

2020-11-24 23:34:28 +0000

The decision last week by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to drive a chasm through Stonehenge World Heritage Site will send shock waves around the world, not least because the independent Examining Authority recommended it be refused permission. The decision goes against the advice of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, it will undermine the UK’s legal commitment to address Climate Change and is contrary to the advice of many experienced archaeologists. Our statement is here https://stonehengealliance.org.uk/road-to-drive-chasm-through-world-heritage-site/

2020-11-08 19:57:41 +0000

URGENT! In 4 days' time Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, will decide the fate of Stonehenge World Heritage Site. Let's show him how much people care about their world heritage whilst there's time. Here is a message for you to post on social media or forward to friends: https://stonehengealliance.org.uk/petition-save-stonehenge-world-heritage-site-to-be-submitted/

2020-07-30 16:57:41 +0100

100,000 signatures reached

2020-07-28 23:08:11 +0100

BREAKING! SCHEME PAUSED

The Transport Secretary’s decision was expected on 17th July. It has been further delayed until 13 November as he wishes to consult on the implications of a major new archaeological find in the World Heritage Site: an incomplete ring of massive pits centred on Durrington Walls henge. Watch Prof Vince Gaffney, who led the discoveries, argue that the road tunnel would be such an act of monstrous vandalism that it would be hard to justify to generations to come. https://www.facebook.com/stonehengealliance/posts/2737710443130311

2020-07-24 01:25:47 +0100

50,000 signatures reached

2020-07-10 19:55:49 +0100

The target of our petition, the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, may seal the fate of Stonehenge WHS next week, probably on Friday 17th July. So now would be an excellent time to write to him and your MP. Read more here https://mailchi.mp/stonehengealliance/transport-secretary-to-seal-fate-of-stonehenge-whs-next-week

2020-06-19 20:17:30 +0100

A decision by the Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, on whether to approve the Stonehenge Tunnel and A303 widening was due by 2 April. Further information was sought and we have been told to expect a decision any day before 17th July. Please keep signing the petition and sign up for news here: http://stonehengealliance.org.uk/subscribe/.

2020-02-08 18:53:48 +0000

Highways England’s A303 Stonehenge tunnel scheme is at a critical stage. A decision on whether to approve it is due by 2 April, but funding for the scheme could be announced in the Budget on 11 March. We would like to swamp the Chancellor of the Exchequer with letters from around the country and abroad to show the strength of feeling against it.
Here are the key points to make: https://mailchi.mp/stonehengealliance/an-urgent-request

2020-02-03 20:40:49 +0000

The future of the Stonehenge Tunnel scheme planned to gouge its way through the World Heritage Site hangs in the balance. The Examining Authority recommendations are with the Secretary of State for Transport for a decision on or around 2nd April. The decision is complicated by financial strictures, the Prime Minister having asked each Government department to sacrifice some “sacred cows” in time for the Chancellor’s budget announcement in March. Chancellor Sajid Javid believes the Stonehenge Tunnel scheme represents poor value for money whereas the Secretary of State Grant Shapps is enamoured of ‘extraordinary infrastructure’ and appears to be in favour of the scheme. The Stonehenge Alliance has sent an open letter to Grant Shapps asking him to axe the A303 Stonehenge Expressway Scheme. http://stonehengealliance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-21-Stonehenge-Alliance-PR-no-contacts.pdf

* A portion of the signature total has been collected offline and has not yet been verified by 38 Degrees.