PLANS to revoke planning permission for the Stonehenge tunnel scheme have been heavily criticised by Wiltshire Council.

The controversial scheme, which forms part of the larger eight-mile A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down, aims to alleviate traffic around Stonehenge.

It ran into road blocks in June last year as the newly-elected Labour government said it agreed “not to move forward with projects that the previous government refused to publicly cancel despite knowing full well they were unaffordable”.

And now, despite planning permission being approved previously, the government is planning to revoke the development consent order (DCO).

If this is successful, it would mean that if any future government wanted to proceed with the project, the whole process would have to start from the very beginning once again.

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Leader of Wiltshire Council, councillor Ian Thorn, described the move as completely unacceptable – “not least because the government has done nothing to facilitate an early discussion on an alternative solution.”

He said: “Our representation to the government will reflect this in the strongest possible terms.

“This proposal disregards years of planning, consultation and investment, and throws away a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve one of the region’s most vital transport corridors.

“The consequences of this decision are far-reaching. It would condemn local communities to continued congestion and rat-running; it would undermine efforts to unlock jobs and investment across Wiltshire and the wider south west; it wastes public money and the infrastructure already put in place; it compromises the environmental benefits that could have been achieved; and it also delays any future progress by forcing the entire process to start from scratch.

“This is not just a setback – it’s a complete step backwards for a region that is severely lacking in government investment compared to other parts of the country.

“Wiltshire deserves better, the south west deserves better, and we will continue to fight for the infrastructure our communities need and deserve.”

More than £160 million has so far been spent on the project to date, and estimates had the overall cost of the project at around £2 billion.

People are being urged to have their say over the proposed order, which can be found here, until the deadline of November 21.

What do you think about the plans?