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

Campaign Facebook Page Campaign Website

Updates

2019-10-07 18:21:50 +0100

The examination of Highways England's scheme application has closed. It has been a gruelling marathon but we've been able to submit a compelling case to cancel the audacious Stonehenge tunnel. So have many others. The Examiners can hardly be in any doubt about the scheme's wickedness.

Over the next 3 months the Examining Authority will write up their findings and make a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Transport who will have a further 3 months in which to make a decision – around March 2020 at the latest. If the wrong decision is made, we may consider issuing a legal challenge.

We've all done our best to shout out "this is wrong".

Read our blog: http://stonehengealliance.org.uk/fate-of-stonehenge-world-heritage-site-in-the-balance/

2018-08-31 09:02:36 +0100

UNESCO’s WORLD HERITAGE CENTRE respond to numerous representations and issue a press notice that acknowledges people's messages of concern from the UK and around the world about the A303 Stonehenge scheme. The UK Government has advised it will ‘take into account’ Committee Decisions. So far, we have seen not a jot of evidence, not even a hint, that it has followed the advice of the 2018 World Heritage Committee or 2018 Advisory Mission to explore less damaging options for the A303. Please carry on supporting our campaign! Link to press notice: http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/1873

2018-07-03 21:05:37 +0100

Last minute amendments to the Draft Decision for UNESCO's World Heritage Committee about the Stonehenge A303 scheme by Spain weakened the decision that had been based on UNESCO's third Advisory Mission’s positive findings. A statement swiftly put together by the Stonehenge Alliance was read out to the World Heritage Committee by our NGO counterparts. Fortunately the ensuing discussion reversed most of the amendments and the UK Government were urged to continue to explore options that would not require dual carriageway cuttings within the property.
Our news report can be found here: http://stonehengealliance.org.uk/stonehenge-unesco-and-the-spanish-amendments/

2018-06-10 19:09:48 +0100

Our campaign has reached something of a watershed. Our concerted action during the consultation last spring is making waves in Parliament. Last week a Westminster Hall debate was called by Alex Burghart, MP for Brentwood in Essex, in order to raise serious archaeological concerns, particularly the risks posed by the road scheme to the discoveries at Blick Mead by the eastern boundary of the World Heritage Site dating back to c7,500-7,900BC. Mr Burghart wanted to highlight the dangers at a time when consultation responses are being considered and the decision on whether the project goes ahead is with the Ministers. We are pleased it captured the attention of the opposition. Please read our blog here: http://stonehengealliance.org.uk/mps-debate-raises-alarm-for-stonehenge-heritage-2/

2018-03-06 16:44:30 +0000

Take Action! A303 Stonehenge consultation is underway and closes on 6th April.

We are in danger of walking into an international scandal if we allow this disastrous scheme to go ahead.

Please object today! http://stonehengealliance.org.uk/act-now/a303-consultation/

The Expressway, tunnel, portals, and 4-lanes of tarmac will plough through the chalk landscape of Stonehenge World Heritage Site and profoundly scar this iconic ancient landscape forever.

2017-11-01 15:35:52 +0000

National Trust votes against its founding principle:
A motion asking the National Trust to reconsider its support for a short tunnel and over a mile of new dual carriageways within the World Heritage Site failed by a fairly narrow margin. Nearly 22,000 votes were cast in favour of the motion.

You can follow the arguments in the video highlights attached to our latest blog below. We hope our efforts will give the Trustees a good reason to pause for further thought.
http://stonehengealliance.org.uk/national-trust-votes-against-its-founding-principles/

2017-09-17 09:25:33 +0100

Government announced its preferred route this month: a slightly amended version that is still going to inflict damage to swathes of Stonehenge WHS. The Alliance is shocked by the UK's Government's indifference to UNESCO's advice. The scheme comes at vast expense: £1.6bn, an increase of £200m since last January.

The damage proposed will be in direct conflict with UNESCO's advice to the UK Government earlier this year.

The significance of the ancient remains in the landscape is still being explored. As UNESCO states in its inscription, "These holy places and the nearby Neolithic sites are an incomparable testimony to preshistoric times."

We were quoted in the national press stating that "the potential risk of loss of World Heritage status casts shame on our country and those responsible for caring for our heritage." Please see our latest blog.
http://stonehengealliance.org.uk/alliance-shocked-by-highways-englands-indifference-to-unescos-advice/

2017-07-10 22:30:57 +0100

UNESCO's World Heritage Committee has asked the UK Government to rethink its road and tunnel proposals so as to avoid the Stonehenge World Heritage Site altogether. It also asks that organisations such as Stonehenge Alliance, specialist Stonehenge Archaeologists and others are properly involved. Read more http://stonehengealliance.org.uk/reprieve-for-stonehenge-whs/
The Report to the WH Committee which it adopted on 6 July can be found here http://whc.unesco.org/en/documents/158727/

2017-03-26 19:31:07 +0100

Our HEARTFELT THANKS to all our supporters who responded to our appeal to object to the outrageous road engineering proposed for the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and its setting.
In the short time available we believe that around 7,000 objectors used our proforma either through our website or on the Friends of the Earth's website. We do not know how many objected directly to Highways England but the indications are that there is a groundswell of national and international objections that is putting the road developers in an awkward position.
To keep up to date please continue to follow Stonehenge Alliance's campaign on Facebook, Twitter or sign up on our website for updates. And of course, please continue to spread the word! http://stonehengealliance.org.uk/our-campaign/petition/

2017-01-22 16:22:19 +0000

Since setting up the petition in 2014 we have learned more about the recently discovered Mesolithic site at Blick Mead. This has led us to consider that if Government insists on a tunnel under the WHS, it must be long enough to avoid the WHS and its setting altogether. This would be in line with planning policy and World Heritage Convention safeguards. We cannot change the wording of the petition but road widening without further damage to the WHS is clearly expressed in the petition and its justification. Follow this link for further briefings here. More information will follow about briefings for the public consultation. http://stonehengealliance.org.uk/

2016-11-13 21:39:39 +0000

Our campaign to stop further damage to the landscape of Stonehenge with a short tunnel has been given a fantastic boost by our supporter Tom Holland, historian, author and broadcaster. He urges viewers to support the Stonehenge Alliance, saying “Moving the A303 into a tunnel would be a catastrophe. An act of vandalism that would shame our country and our generation.”
The UK Government’s road building plans are at a pre-consultation stage but Highways England has written to Stonehenge Alliance saying that their working assumption is to build a 2.9 km (1.8 mile) tunnel. The location of tunnel portals is not yet confirmed but the tunnel would lie within the World Heritage Site. This is the time to influence Government. Please take action here, now. http://stonehengealliance.org.uk/our-campaign/petition/
Link to video: http://stonehengealliance.org.uk/short-video-created-for-campaign/

2016-11-05 17:32:53 +0000

NEW BLOG Our campaign leaflet explains the threat to #StonehengeWHS and why we must carry on signing the petition, writing letters and sharing widely.
http://stonehengealliance.org.uk/stonehenge-alliances-new-campaign-leaflet/

2016-06-09 17:14:27 +0100

CAMPAIGN UPDATE
We are building a small team of International Representatives to help The Stonehenge Alliance engage world-wide with objectors to the road-widening proposals that would severely damage Stonehenge World Heritage Site. We have also recently added two more translations of our petition: in Italian and in Portuguese to share. You can find out more on this link. http://stonehengealliance.org.uk/international-reps/

2016-04-26 13:43:01 +0100

Countdown to A303 Engineering Works has started. There are three distinct stages:
NOW: Pre-application Period: a number of options are designed and consulted on
SOON: Pre-examination: Highways England's preferred option is consulted on
LATER: Examination and Decision Making Period: Application will be submitted to an examining panel.
Scheme starts on site in 2020 if we don't stop further damage to our ancient landscape.
Further details in our blog: http://stonehengealliance.org.uk/countdown-to-a303-stonehenge-engineering-works/

2016-04-15 08:54:53 +0100

NEW hashtag: #SaveStonehengeWHS is our new campaign hashtag for comments, posts and tweets about widening of A303/tunnel by Stonehenge that is in design. Please use when sharing petition www.stonehengealliance.org.uk/our-campaign/petition or tweeting @SaveStonehenge
Thank you!

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