Stonehenge road and tunnel decision unlawful, rules judge.

Stonehenge campaigners are celebrating a massive victory after a judge ruled that a decision to allow a dual carriageway, road and tunnel to be built within the ancient World Heritage Site was unlawful.

The judgment effectively quashes development consent for an eight-mile road project which includes two miles of tunnel past Stonehenge and within the World Heritage Site (WHS).

The judge further concluded that the Transport Secretary had made an error of law by failing to consider alternatives to the scheme, such as a longer tunnel, which may have been less damaging to the WHS. This was despite, so the judge remarked, the World Heritage Committee raising alternatives as a vitally important issue in relation to a heritage asset of international importance.

In theory, the Government could appeal but since the judge has ruled they have ” made an error of law by failing to consider alternatives to the scheme, such as a longer tunnel, which may have been less damaging to the WHS” it seems highly unlikely, so hopefully…

FINIS! C’est tout! Bravo!