What happens next
A decision on the application for a Development Consent Order for A303 Stonehenge was taken on 12 November 2020 and has now been issued.
The period for legal challenge is defined in s118 of the Planning Act 2008. Further information about legal challenge can be found in the letter sent to all Interested Parties accompanying the Secretary of State’s decision and statement of reasons.
If you have any queries about the process please email the Planning Inspectorate at [email protected] or telephone the helpline on 0303 444 5000.
Timeline (46 items)

The Secretary of State for Transport has today granted development consent for the project. For further information please refer to the following documents:
Notification of Decision Letter (PDF, 123 KB)
Secretary of State Decision Letter (PDF, 737 KB)
Development Consent Order as made by the Secretary of State (PDF, 1 MB)
Examining Authority’s Recommendation Report (PDF, 3 MB)
Examining Authority’s Recommendation Report Appendices (PDF, 3 MB)
Post Examination Correspondence Log (PDF, 111 MB)
Regulation 31 Notice (PDF, 63 KB)
Habitats Regulations Assessment (PDF, 929 KB)


In the Secretary of State for Transport’s letter of 20 August 2020, parties were invited to provide final comments on the representations received in response to his consultation letter of 16 July 2020 and the other information in relation to the Environmental Statement produced by the Applicant.

The responses to the Secretary of State’s consultation of 16 July 2020 have now been published.
The Secretary of State for Transport has invited comments (PDF, 203KB) on these responses alongside the material in relation to the Applicant’s representation dated 11 August 2020 by 28 September 2020.
An Environmental Statement signposting document (PDF, 166KB) has now been added to the consultation material subject to the Secretary of State for Transport’s consultation of 20 August 2020 (PDF, 203KB)

The Secretary of State for Transport has set a new deadline for the decision for this application which is 13 November 2020.
The Secretary of State for Transport has asked for comments and further information in relation to the recent archaeological find within the World Heritage Site by 13 August 2020.

The responses to the Secretary of State’s consultation of 4 May 2020 have now been published.

The Secretary of State has requested information and comments from the Applicant, Historic England and Natural England by 18 May 2020

A Statement has been laid in Parliament setting a new deadline of 17 July 2020 to enable further work to be carried out before the application is determined by the Secretary of State.

IMPORTANT: As a result of ongoing Government guidance relating to COVID-19 the Planning Inspectorate is seeking to ensure that all Parties are notified of key developments on projects, in a timely manner. In order to help achieve this, and to minimise any delays which could arise if the postal service is affected, it would be extremely helpful if registered Parties that have not already done so could supply us with a contact e-mail address as soon as possible (details in the contact information heading of the project page).
Please be assured that this information will be managed in line with our Privacy Notice.


The examination closed at 23:59 on Wednesday 2nd October 2019.

The submissions to Deadline 9 have now been published. The Examination Library will be updated as soon as practicable.

The submissions to Deadline 8a have now been published. The Examination Library will be updated as soon as practicable.

The submissions to Deadline 8 have now been published. The Examination Library will be updated as soon as practicable.

The agendas for the Issue Specific Hearings being held on 29 and 30 August 2019 have now been published.

The agendas for the Issue Specific Hearings being held on 21 and 22 August 2019 have now been published.

The submissions to Deadline 7 have now been published. The Examination Library will be updated as soon as practicable

The Examining Authority has issued a Procedural Decision to vary the Examination Timetable.

The submissions to Deadline 6 have now been published. The Examination Library will be updated as soon as practicable.

A letter giving notice of Issue Specific Hearings in August 2019 has been issued to Interested Parties.
The final itinerary for the Accompanied Site Inspection 2 on 29 August 2019 has been published.

The submissions to Deadline 5 have now been published.
The Examination Library has been updated.

The submissions to Deadline 4a have now been published.
The Examination Library has been updated.

The Examining Authority has issued a Procedural Decision to vary the Examination Timetable.

The submissions to Deadline 3 have now been published.
The agendas for all Issue Specific Hearings being held between 4 and 14 June 2019 have also been published.

The submissions to Deadline 2a have now been published. The Examination Library will be updated as soon as practicable.

The submissions to Deadline 2 have now been published. The Examination Library will be updated as soon as practicable.
A letter giving notice of Examination events in June, July and August 2019 has been issued to Interested Parties.

The final itinerary for the Accompanied Site Inspection on 21 May 2019 has been published.

The Examination Timetable (Rule 8 letter) has been sent to Interested Parties
Procedural decision following Preliminary Meeting

- Preliminary Meeting takes place
- Examination begins

The Planning Inspectorate has received the following information from Highways England in respect of two bespoke bus services it has decided to provide for Interested Parties to travel to and from the Preliminary Meeting on 2 April 2019. For further details please contact Highways England at [email protected].
Transport to the Preliminary Hearing on the 2 April 2019:
Amesbury – Salisbury – Salisbury Racecourse*
08:50 – from Amesbury (Central car park (directly off ‘The Centre’ road). Salisbury Rd, Amesbury, Salisbury SP4 7JE)
09:15 – Salisbury Bus Station
09:20 – Salisbury Train Station
09.40 – Arrive at Salisbury Racecourse
Winterbourne Stoke – Wilton – Salisbury Racecourse*
09:00 – Winterbourne Stoke (Layby off the A303, next to Manor Barn (red telephone box). 1 High Street, SP3 4SZ
09:15 – Wilton, (Layby off the A36 (Salisbury Road), immediately after Wilton House Garden Centre, before the roundabout. Wilton, Salisbury SP2 0AQ
09.30 – Arrive at Salisbury Racecourse
*Return journeys will be provided at the lunch break and at the end of the meeting.

The notification of Preliminary Meeting (Rule 6 letter) has been sent Read the letter
The letter also includes the draft Examination Timetable and Initial Assessment of Principal Issues.





This application was received by the Planning Inspectorate on 19 October 2018.
The Applicant has agreed that all application documents can be published as soon as practicable upon submission to help everyone become familiar with the detail of what is being proposed in this application.
This provision is solely for the purpose of allowing more time to all those who wish to become familiar with the detail of what is being proposed ahead of the Relevant Representation stage, without lengthening the overall time required for the application process. There will be no opportunity at this stage to make comments on the application. However, if the application is accepted anyone interested in the application will be able to register and express their views during the Relevant Representation stage and the subsequent Examination.
