PINS urged Shapps to can A303 scheme due to ‘adverse effect’ on local roads and communities
Transport secretary Grant Shapps went against the Planning Inspectorate’s (PINS) recommendation when he gave the green light to the £250M A303 dualling scheme between Sparkford and Ilchester last week.
It is the third time in recent months that Shapps has overruled the Inspectorate’s recommendation, having also done so when he approved the development consent order for the A303 Stonehenge Tunnel and when giving the go ahead to the A63 upgrade in Hull.
In its Examination report, the Planning Inspectorate urged Shapps to decline the DCO application on the grounds that the scheme would have “adverse effects” for local roads, would cut off local communities and was a risk to the natural and historical landscape (see below for Planning Inspectorate’s full list of concerns).