Overview
- The draft move would cancel the A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down development consent order that was granted in 2023.
- Ministers paused the scheme in July 2024 for cost reasons, and the department now points to “exceptional circumstances” and unaffordability.
- Wiltshire Council leader Ian Thorn condemned the proposal, warning of prolonged congestion, lost investment and delayed progress on any future fix.
- If the consent is revoked, any revival of the tunnel would have to restart the entire planning and approval process from scratch.
- The project’s last widely cited estimate was about £1.7 billion several years ago, with industry reporting that inflation likely increased the cost since then.