‘Proposed Scheme’ for the A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down and the State of Conservation of "Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites"

Over the last several months, the World Heritage Centre has been receiving numerous messages from citizens from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as from other countries, expressing their concern regarding the ‘Proposed Scheme’ for the A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down project, located within the boundaries of the World Heritage site “Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites”, and the adverse impact it may have on the landscape, archaeological remains, hydrogeology and ecology of the site.

The World Heritage Centre wishes to thank you for your emails and interest in the protection of this World Heritage site, and we wish to reassure you that the competent authorities of the State Party of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as well as the Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Convention (ICOMOS) and the World Heritage Centre are fully informed of the concerns raised by the citizens’ campaign. The state of conservation of the property is being monitored by all parties in accordance with the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention.

The State Party has advised that it will manage the timing of the consent and other statutory processes for the A303 trunk road project to take into account Committee Decisions and to ensure that the World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS and the Committee can continue to contribute to the evaluation and decision-making processes at appropriate stages of the project.

In early 2018, a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Advisory Mission to the site took place at the request of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This mission report is available on the website for public access: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/373/documents/

In the summer of 2018, the World Heritage Committee, during its 42nd session in Manama, Bahrain (24 June-4 July), has examined the state of conservation of this property. As it is stated in the latest Committee Decision available online, the World Heritage Committee has requested the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre an updated report on the state of conservation of the World Heritage property “Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites" for examination at its 43rd session in 2019.