The A303 (left) and A344 (right) see high levels of traffic congestion and the junction is an accident blackspot

Key conservation groups have joined forces to present a unified response to new plans, currently in public consultation, to relieve traffic congestion around Stonehenge.

The 12 groups, including The National Trust, Friends of the Earth and the Council for British Archaeology, met in March 2006 to draft the statement. It urges the Highways Agency to consider further options to help solve the ongoing transport problems around the Wiltshire World Heritage Site.

According to the statement, released on April 11 2006, all the signatories, “oppose the current options in the Highways Agency Scheme as lacking a long-term vision that respects the international significance of Stonehenge as a World Heritage Site”.

“All call on the Highways Agency to explore different options, which would be acceptable in terms of impact on the World Heritage landscape,” it continues.

The traffic proposals around Stonehenge have been criticised by the National Trust and archaeology groups. © English Heritage

The government asked the Highways Agency to come up with new options for traffic calming around Stonehenge after the costs of a previous scheme to create a 2.1 kilometre bored tunnel rose to £510m.

Highways Agency plans, unveiled in January 2006, include several options including new roads either to the north or the south of Stonehenge, a ‘cut and cover’ tunnel and a partial solution involving the closing of the nearby A344 at its junction with the A303.

The collective response adds: “All believe that the government should, in the short term, focus on the benefits of possible small-scale, interim improvements, notably closure of the A344/A303 junction, in the absence of agreed large-scale development, but without prejudicing any future off-line solutions.”

Stonehenge is Britain’s most famous prehistoric site and was built between around 3000 BC and 2000 BC. It became a World Heritage Site in 1986. Solutions to the problem of heavy traffic on the A303 and other nearby roads have been sought since 1991.

The Stonehenge site itself is owned and administered by English Heritage although the land around it is managed by the National Trust.

Stonehenge as it might look in the future, with a roadless landscape

Speaking to the 24 Hour Museum, Julian Lloyd, a spokesman for the National Trust, said: “We are keen to ensure that as a consultation process it is broadened out. Five options have been put onto the table for discussion and it is not entirely clear why only those were selected above all others.”

The consultation process is due to end of April 24 2006. Its findings will then be sent to the government along with environmental studies that are currently being conducted. A decision on the way forward for the scheme is hoped to be made sometime in summer 2006, according to the Highways Agency.

“It is absolutely critical that the decisions regarding a site like Stonehenge are absolutely robust,” said Julian. “I think our statement reflects concern that those five options are not necessarily the best”

“Now is the time for any additional options to be considered,” he added.

The full signatories to the statement are the Ancient Sacred Landscape Network, The Council for British Archaeology, The Campaign to Protect Rural England, Friends of the Earth, International Council for Monuments and Sites UK, the Prehistoric Society, The British Archaeological Trust, The National Trust, Transport 2000 and Wiltshire Archaeology and Natural History Society.