By David Parker
Approval of work on the A303 dual carriageway and tunnel at Stonehenge has been challenged by a new organisation.
The group was set up by the Stonehenge Alliance which has now instructed counsel and Leigh Day (solicitors) to investigate the lawfulness of Secretary of State Grant Shapps’s decision on November 12 to approve the ‘improvements’ to the road.
A letter was sent to the Department of Transport on November 27 claiming his decision had gone against his own department and planning inspectorate’s advice, sent shock waves around the world and flew in the face of world opinion, including Unesco.
Campaigners launched and appeal to raise £50,000 to cover the initial costs for the legal action, which is supported by the Stonehenge Alliance. Its president Tom Holland said: “I back the move to test whether Grant Shapps acted legally in approving this highly wasteful and destructive road scheme. The government ignored advice from Unesco and the independent panel after a six-month examination.”
He urged everyone who cared about the Stonehenge World Heritage Site to support the action “to stop the bulldozers moving in and vandalising the precious iconic prehistoric landscape.”
The crowd-funding was launched on the CrowdJustice website on November 30 entitled ‘Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site’.
In a press release from the new group, Leigh Day solicitor Rowan Smith said: “Our client believes there is a legal case that the Secretary of State unlawfully assessed the harm inflicted on a (claimed) 4,000-year-old and much-cherished World heritage Site, deciding instead that such destruction is a price worth paying for the economic benefits and faster road travel times that may accrue in the future.”
Another long-term leading campaigner and outspoken critic of the scheme, Andy Rhind-Tutt said there was no doubt the Minister had made a decision that had to be legally-challenged. The resident and former Mayor Amesbury and Salisbury Chamber of Commerce & Industry president. He is also in favour of a Salisbury by-pass to help ease the city’s traffic problems and assist businesses.