Responses to both Highways England’s consultations (2017 and 2018) submitted by other organisations. This page is regularly updated.

Avebury Society

Founded in 1994 the Avebury Society is a Civic Society that speaks for its members on matters that affect Avebury and surrounding villages.  The Society appoints representatives to various World Heritage Site Management Committees and is affiliated to the Council for British Archaeology.

2017 – Objection to Stonehenge proposal is here.

2018 – Objection to Stonehenge proposal is here.

Blick Mead Archaeology

2018 – Objection here.

Campaign for Better Transport

Campaign for Better Transport (formerly known as Transport 2000) are members of Stonehenge Alliance.

2017 – objection here and press release here.

2018 – objection here and press release here.

Consortium of Stonehenge Experts

The signatories of the joint objection to Highways England are senior archaeologists who have carried out internationally recognised research within the Stonehenge WHS within the last ten years or more.

2017 – letter of objection here.

2018 – Consultation letter from 22 Stonehenge archaeologists

Council for British Archaeology (CBA)

The CBA has had a long history of engagement with the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site, principally associated with the management of Stonehenge and the surrounding landscape.

In early 2016, CBA trustees revisited earlier documents which had previously informed the CBA’s engagement with Stonehenge, and in April agreed a revised and updated set of Cardinal Principles which the CBA believes are crucial in considering the management of the monument and its surrounding landscape. They are particularly important in relation to any proposal for the A303 within the World Heritage Site which might be published for consultation in 2017.

The revised Principles were adopted at the AGM in November 2016 here.

CBA statement on Stonehenge proposals – 18 January 2017

2017 – CBA response to A303 Stonehenge Consultation here. CBA Wessex 2017 response here.

2018 – Objection here.

CPRE – Campaign to Protect Rural England

CPRE, CPRE SW and CPRE Wiltshire branch are founding members of Stonehenge Alliance.

2017 – Objection to Highways England by CPRE South West can be found here.

2018 – Campaign for the Protection of Rural England – South West. CPRE Wiltshire Branch letter of objection here.

2018 August – Response to supplementary consultation 

Friends of the Earth

Friends of the Earth and SW Friends of the Eath are founding members of the Stonehenge Alliance.

2017 – Additional Objection from FOE SW here.

2018 – Additional Objection from FOE SW 

Honouring the Ancient Dead

Honouring the Ancient Dead is a British initiative that advocates respect for what are commonly called ‘human remains’ and their related funereal artefacts.

2017 – Their summary response can be found here and full response here.

ICOMOS-UK

ICOMOS-UK is the UK committee of ICOMOS International that advises on aspects of World Heritage and sites for nomination across the UK. It is an independent charity with a UK-wide and international mission to promote and support best practice in the conservation, care and understanding of the historic environment.

2017 – ICOMOS-UK has objected strongly to Highways England’s proposal for a short tunnel across the WHS. Read their response here.

2018 –  “ICOMOS-UK registers a strong objection to the proposals in view of “the substantial negative and irreversible impact we believe that the dual carriageways at both ends of the tunnel would have on the attributes of OUV of the WHS of Stonehenge”. Full response here.

Prehistoric Society

The Prehistoric Society promotes the preservation of and research into all aspects of human prehistory.

2017 – Response here

2018 –

Rescue: The British Archaeological Trust

Rescue is a member of Stonehenge Alliance.

2017 – objection can be read here.

2018 – Rescue – The British Archaeological Trust

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)

The RSPB objected to the published proposals in 2017 because of the direct impact on the rare ground nesting stone-curlew’s nesting territories in the Normanton Down Reserve and elsewhere on the Salisbury Plain.

2017 – objection can be read in full here.  A summary is available here.

April 2018: The RSPB has reiterated its position and objection here.

2018 – Overview about the Stone Curlew project and Salisbury Plain by the RSPB

April 2019: Despite changes to the scheme the RSPB reiterated its concerns here.

Society of Antiquaries

2017 – The Policy Committee of the Society of Antiquaries tend to agree with some reservations, subject to further detail.

2018 – Response here.

Stonehenge Alliance

Please link to summary and full objections here.

Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (WANHS – Wiltshire Museum)

The Wiltshire Museum archaeology collections are among the finest in Britain, trace the history of people living in Wiltshire in a series of galleries – Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman, Saxon, and Medieval. The collections on display include important finds associated with the World Heritage Sites of Avebury and Stonehenge including gold objects excavated from Bush Barrow near Stonehenge.

The Society has a long association with Stonehenge.  In 1883 when two railway lines were planned to run across Stonehenge Down the Society led a successful campaign against them.  A few years later the Society was involved in gaining protection for the stones under the Ancient Monuments Act.  In the 1920s leading members of the Society purchased 1,500 acres of land around Stonehenge as part of a national appeal to protect the landscape.  All this land is now in the care of the National Trust.

The Society ha actively campaigned for solutions which will minimise the impact on the area’s archaeology.

2017 – Response following consultation with WANHS members here.

2018Response following consultation with WANHS members  here. 

Winterbourne Parish Council

The A303 runs through the village of Winterbourne Stoke. They are surprised that they have not been considered statutory consultees and frustrated by the lack of data and answers to technical questions about impacts. Link to the Parish Council’s response is in two parts.

2017 – Response letter here and an addendum here.

Responses from individuals

Tim Marshall, Professor Emeritus Oxford Brookes

2017 – The Stonehenge Expressway: An eloquent emblem of a failed transport policy

Dr Chris Gillham, former Twyford Down campaigner

2017 and 2018  –

Links for responses from Historic EnglandEnglish Heritage, the National Trust and UNESCO.

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