UNESCO set to put Stonehenge on 'danger' list

The UN could put Stonehenge on a list of 'World Heritage in Danger' sites because of the potential impact of the Government's plans to build a tunnel in the area.

Papers for a meeting next month of a key UNESCO committee recommend that the members put Stonehenge on its watchlist, ‘with a view to mobilizing international support’.

The news follows the courts' permission for a new legal challenge to go ahead against the Government's decision to grant a development consent order for the £2bn scheme.

Stonehenge from the existing A303

The committee papers criticise the Government and National Highways’ responses to UNESCO’s concerns over the scheme, which are said to remain ‘a threat to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property’.

The report states: ‘Notwithstanding the Committee’s requests at its last session that the Scheme be redesigned to remove the 3.5 km of four-lane highway in cuttings within the property, the proposed design developments put forward by the State Party retain these cuttings.’

It adds: ‘Although the State Party considers that the consented Scheme provides “best available outcome for the OUV of the property”, that is within the limits that the State Party itself has set for this project.’

The report describes proposed changes to the consented scheme put forward by Government – cantilevered sides and another ‘green bridge’ – as providing ‘only very modest visual benefits’.

John Adams, chair of the Stonehenge Alliance, said: ‘This is a damming verdict on National Highways’ plans. Its minor tweaks have quite rightly cut no ice with UNESCO.'

Highways has approached National Highways for comment.