Final point in Stonehenge challenge effectively dismissed

The final legal point brought by campaigners opposed to a road tunnel near Stonehenge was effectively dismissed by the Court of Appeal today (22 February). Campaign group Stonehenge Alliance has been fighting government plans to build a tunnel through the Stonehenge World Heritage Site for years. Earlier this week the group lost a legal challenge to the proposals when a High Court judge postponed ruling on one of their points and dismissed the rest. The point the judge postponed related to the cumulative effect of greenhouse gas emissions caused by the project. The same point has already been argued at the Court of Appeal in a case brought by campaigner Andrew Boswell, who is fighting government plans to upgrade parts of the A47 in Norfolk. The judge postponed ruling on the point, as it relates to Stonehenge, until after the Court of Appeal decision. And in a ruling today the Court of Appeal dismissed the Boswell case. Even so, the Stonehenge Alliance said that the Court of Appeal ruling did not affect the group’s plans to lodge its own appeal. “This news doesn’t change our approach to the dismissal of our challenge this week,” said Chris Todd of the Transport Action Network. Todd is working with the Stonehenge Alliance on its campaign. “We fully intend to appeal once we have consulted our lawyers, and this judgement doesn’t change that. “Allowing this road to proceed and to damage the World Heritage Site, threatening its listing, is not something we are prepared to do. It is a wanton act of vandalism by the government and we shall do everything possible to stop it,” he said. Photo © Nik/Unsplash