Highways England claims scheme will improve travel and visits to site but many oppose it

Environmentalists, archaeologists, residents and druids have expressed deep concerns about a controversial scheme to build a road tunnel through the Stonehenge landscape as the £1.6bn project reaches a key milestone.

A six-month long examination of the scheme that will consider issues ranging from the impact on precious archaeological remains to how it may affect endangered birdlife and the darkness of the night sky begins on Wednesday.

At a packed preliminary meeting at Salisbury racecourse on Tuesday, there were protests about the scheme, which some have branded vandalism. More than 2,000 people, many of them opposed, have said they want to make submissions and hundreds want to give evidence in person over the next six months.

The location of the proposed tunnel. The location of the proposed tunnel.

Highways England argues that its plan to improve the A303, which currently passes within 165 metres of the great stone circle, will result in smoother travel for people journeying to and from the south-west of England and make life easier for local people.

It also claims the plan, to sink the A303 into a two-mile tunnel, will mean that visitors to the circle will no longer have to put up with the sight and sound of cars and lorries whizzing past the stones.

David Bullock, Highways England project manager for the scheme, said the examination was a great opportunity for people to raise questions and concerns. “I can understand people being concerned. This is a chance for them to see the project in more detail; this will be a chance to drill down and examine the detail.”

He argued the project would remove a traffic choke point in a key route to and from the south-west of England as well as improve people’s experience of the Stonehenge circle.

The aim is to begin the work in 2021 and open the new road and tunnel in 2026. Bullock said Highways England had already begun the process of finding contractors to lead the project.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A graphic of the proposed tunnel entrance planned by Highways England. Photograph: Highways England

But there are many opponents, ranging from local farmers to fans of off-road motorcycling, who fear they will lose rights of way they currently enjoy.

Members of the Stonehenge Alliance, which includes environmental groups, some archaeologists and enthusiasts of sacred landscapes, have claimed the start of the process brought the destruction of a vast swathe of the Stonehenge world heritage site a step closer.

Kate Fielden, a spokesperson for the alliance, said: “Major road and tunnel engineering will have a truly shocking impact on this site. If the plan were to go ahead an entirely new dual carriageway, deep cuttings, and tunnel entrances would be introduced on a massive scale into this country’s premier prehistoric landscape. The expanded road would draw significantly more traffic into the world heritage site.”

One of the alliance’s concerns is a plan to build a new viaduct over the River Till and the potential disturbance this could create for two bird species: the stone curlew and the great bustard.

David Jacques, an archaeologist working on the Blick Mead site a mile and a half from the circle, has raised concerns about how the project may affect the water table. The Blick Mead site includes perfectly preserved hoofprints of giant wild cattle but Jacques fears construction work would lower the water table, drying out the peat and silt that preserve these and other archaeological remains.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Arthur Pendragon, who claims he is a reincarnation of a once and future king, regularly worships at Stonehenge. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Arthur Pendragon, a druid who says he is the reincarnation of the once and future king, said he was alarmed that nobody was talking about the religious importance of the landscape.

“Everyone is talking about legal and planning arguments but nobody is talking about the spiritual importance of Stonehenge. This tunnel would affect pilgrims who come here for solstice and equinoxes. Nobody is speaking about how this plan may affect me exercising our right to worship.”

Local people have also raised concerns. Mary Sebborn, who described herself as “an ordinary housewife” told the meeting the new road would pass her bedroom window. “I’ve been blighted,” she said.

The examination, which will involve a series of public meetings and site visits, will last until October. The five person panel will have three months to write its report and the secretary of state for transport will make a decision on the project in April 2020.