Huge blow to £1.7bn tunnel that could end traffic chaos between London and Cornwall

Planning permission for the Stonehenge tunnel on the A303 could be removed in a new blow to the £1.7 billion project. The government now wants to remove the planning permission for the tunnel after it cancelled the project.

If the proposal to revoke it goes ahead, it would mean re-starting the planning process if the project were ever revived. The plan had been eventually granted permission in 2023. However, now the current government says it may not move forward with the project due to financial reasons. The tunnel would have been on the route that is usually the quickest between South London and Devon and Cornwall, helping with traffic chaos to the capital.

According to New Civil Engineer, the project was last estimated at a huge cost of £1.7 billion, but this went back several years so was likely to have been much higher by 2024, when the project was put on hold.

The A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down scheme would have seen the construction of a new dual carriageway to replace the existing A303 in this section.

It would have included a new tunnel that would go beneath the Stonehenge Unesco World Heritage site, although it would have been further away from the actual stones than the current A303.

In the notice from the Department for Transport, it said "exceptional circumstances" make it "appropriate" to make a proposal to revoke planning permission.

In a statement, the department added: "Given the challenging financial picture we inherited, we had to make difficult decisions about a number of road projects as they were unfunded or unaffordable.

"We remain committed to investing in projects that deliver for the taxpayer and drive growth, which is why we are investing nearly £5 billion this year alone on our strategic road network to support its maintenance, enhancement, and ensure smoother journeys."