Court of Appeal gives green light for legal challenge over Government decision to approve road scheme near Stonehenge

May 24, 2024

Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site (SSWHS) has secured a Court of Appeal hearing in its application for a judicial review of the Government’s decision to approve a £2.5bn road scheme through Stonehenge World Heritage Site.

The group, which fears the project could cause "irreparable damage" to the archaeology and landscape, lodged its first challenge in 2021.

Mr Justice Holgate found the then Transport Secretary Grant Shapps did not take into account two specific appraisals from an Environment Statement and a Heritage Impact Assessment of additional assets on the land, and had not properly assessed the risk of harm to each heritage asset within the World Heritage Site.

Holgate J's finding meant that the Secretary of State had to redetermine the application for the new road where it passes the site.

Following this, the Government re-determined the application and granted another development consent order (DCO).

In July 2023, SSWHS applied to have the new decision judicially reviewed, but the application was refused by Mr Justice Holgate earlier this year.

However, a Court of Appeal judge has now said there are “compelling” reasons to grant SSWHS an appeal.

The campaign group, represented by law firm Leigh day, contents that that Mr Justice Holgate was wrong:

To rule that, in deciding to approve the road scheme, the Minister did not need to personally consider whether various matters were relevant to their decision, including responses from SSWHS during the re-determination process;
To assume the Minister considered documents available to him merely because he had been sent the examination library web links;
To treat the re-determination process, without the re-opening of the DCO examination, as fair;
Not to find that the latest decision of the World Heritage Convention should have been taken into account when weighing up the risk of Stonehenge being removed from a list of World Heritage Sites;
Not to reach a view on whether the DCO was compatible with the World Heritage Convention (WHC), by holding that the proper interpretation of the WHC was not a matter for the court;
Not to consider the legal implications of the review of the National Policy Statement for National Networks (NPSNN) for climate change reasons when approving the scheme under the provisions of the Planning Act 2008;
To refuse a stay on a legal argument concerning the proper approach to assessing the cumulative climate change and environmental impact of this Scheme and other committed road developments, pending a Supreme Court decision on an equivalent point.

SSWHS claimed that UNESCO, five planning inspectors, and more than 230,000 people were “strongly opposed” to National Highways’ plans for the the project.

John Adams, chair of the Stonehenge Alliance and one of the three directors of SSWHS, said: “This is extremely good news. All those who care passionately about our cultural heritage can breathe a sigh of relief. We now have a new opportunity for the Government decision to be thoroughly scrutinised.

“This road scheme would be incredibly damaging to Stonehenge World Heritage Site. Yet, the Government doesn’t seem to care and is desperately trying to bulldoze through this decision before it is thrown out of office.”

Leigh Day solicitor Rowan Smith said: “This news is very encouraging for our client. In granting permission to appeal, the Court of Appeal acknowledged the scale of public interest around ensuring that a decision about plans for Stonehenge is lawful. 

“The Court said there is a compelling reason for an appeal hearing. Our client is looking forward to presenting arguments about the fairness of the decision-making process relating to the future of Stonehenge as well as compliance with international law protecting the World Heritage Site.”

If granted, the judicial review hearing itself will be heard in a “rolled up” hearing at the Court of Appeal later this year.

Lottie Winson