More than 500 people have signed a petition in opposition to the A303 Stonehenge tunnel project.

Winterbourne Stoke resident Ian West, 78, started the appeal in August.

It has attracted much support in two months, calling on the Government to “withdraw from the tunnel project” due to “the environmental damage it would cause to the countryside”.

The former Wiltshire County and Salisbury District councillor launched the petition after many locals contacted him about the project in frustration.

Mr West said: “I was born and bred in Winterbourne Stoke and have lived here all my life.

“When I was 7 years old, my friend was knocked over and killed in the village on the A303, and ever since then I have been campaigning for a bypass.

“But we don’t want any bypass, we want the right one.”

The proposed tunnel is part of a £1.7 billion investment in the A303 between Amesbury and Berwick Down.

The go-ahead was given in November last year, despite advice from Planning Inspectorate officials that it would cause “permanent, irreversible harm” to the Unesco World Heritage Site.

The petition was launched in support of the High Court judge who quashed Grant Shapp’s approval to grant the Development Consent Order for the tunnel.

In a ruling on July 30, Mr Justice Holgate found the decision to be “unlawful” on two grounds.

He concluded that there was a “material error of law” in the decision-making process because there was no evidence of the impact on each individual asset at the historic site.

Secondly, he found that Mr Shapps failed to consider alternative schemes, in accordance with the World Heritage Convention and common law.

Mr Justice Holgate also noted the Transport Secretary’s acceptance that the road scheme would have caused permanent and irreversible harm to the World Heritage Site.

The petition reads: “The detrimental effect on the landscape, noise levels and local community would leave an appalling legacy for the future.”

 

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