Representation by Lynn Wilson
- Date submitted
- 11 January 2019
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Stonehenge sits in a unique and highly sensitive landscape that's already under intense pressure from traffic, tourism and economic development. Digging a tunnel would undoubtedly involve destroying undiscovered archaeological treasures in a unique man-made prehistoric landscape in the process. the destruction it would wreak across the board – to the site's ecology, its archaeological value, its tranquillity and the long-term impact on its unique geology. And what about the effect on air quality from the inevitable increase in traffic – not just locally but at destinations along the A303? Also the government’s proposed tunnel plan could seriously jeopardise the World Heritage status of Stonehenge, and consequently that of Avebury which is part of the WHS inscription. Archaeologists have also pointed? out that the new road would "cut a c.40m-wide swathe through the densest concentration of Neolithic long barrows in Britain" at the western end. "We risk losing the stories the site has to tell of past lives for future generations forever." It would be bad news for wildlife and habitats too. Not to mention the noise disturbance from traffic, and the risk of greater air and water pollution locally and further afield. I say leave it alone leave it as it is until proper research has been done into long term solutions that take into consideration all of the above points.