Stonehenge tunnel plan ditched
10:49am Thursday 6th December 2007
Comments (1)THE Government has scrapped plans for the Stonehenge road tunnel because it would be too expensive.
The cost of the road improvement scheme, which would see a 2.1km (1.3 mile) bored tunnel bored in Salisbury Plain, had escalated from £223m to £540m.
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Transport Minister Tom Harris said that kind of spending would not be the best use of taxpayers' money.
The scheme, which was subject to a public inquiry, had been suggested to deal with major traffic hold-ups in the area but the Government now says any improvements to the A303 will be minor.
Mr Harris said: ""After careful consideration, we have now concluded that, due to significant environmental constraints across the whole of the World Heritage Site, there are no acceptable alternatives to the 2.1km bored tunnel scheme.
"However, when set against our wider objectives and priorities, we have concluded that allocating more than £500 million for the implementation of this scheme cannot be justified and would not represent best use of taxpayers' money."
The Save Stonehenge organisation welcomed the decision. Spokesman Chris Woodford said: "Christmas has come early for Stonehenge".
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11:24pm Thu 20 Dec 07