Northants

[Curator Kid]

Hi Mr. Hosty,

You could ask them some specific and irritating questions. How about some of these:

1. The Government remains committed to the maintenance of an effective framework for the protection of all elements of the Historic Environment and the policy provisions set out in PPG16 (A Force for our Future). How does Northants propose to fulfill this committment?

2. Who is providing advice required under the provisions of PPG16 to the County and Districts of Northants? (require contact details).

3. Who is providing specialist archaeological and heritage advice, as required under BVI (planning) 205, into the preparation of LDF's, Planning Guidance and all types of applications under the Planning Acts? Is the new arrangement permanent and continuous? Is the same advice being sought in the preparation of Northants' Communtiy Strategy?

4. Who is Northants' representitive to ALGAO?

5. Who is Northants' Heritage Champion?

6. What arrangements are the County and District Councils putting in place to accommodate the provisions of the Heritage Protection Review and forthcoming Heritage White Paper, which are likely to devolve additional historic environment consultation and monitoring work from English Heritage to Local Authorities, and place a statutory requirement on Local Authorities to provide such a service?

I'd finish off by insisting on a reply ("I look forward to receiving your response" or something similar). The Medium Term Plan is demonstrably lacking in substance in almost anything, not just heritage. Who are you sending the letter to? Is it just Northants, or do you intend copying it to all the local MP's etc. as well?

Cheers,

CK.

[BAJR Host]

just the sort of annoying questions I want

Another day another WSI?

[roywhiting]

With regard to Northants, I've just heard a bit of news that seems to be consistent with the mood of the Council at the moment - the county bio-diversity officer left a short time ago, and, unusually, is not going to be replaced. This apparently is a post which has been filled for a number of years.

Cuts are obviously being made across the whole LA environment sector ahead of some pretty major proposed developments on the edge of the city and, I believe, elsewhere too. Would it be unreasonable to presume Northants Council are planning to steamroller these projects through with minimal specialist input?

It seems like consultants are in the most powerful positions in these situations as they can insist on best practice in the absence of a local DC archaeologist.

I'd like to fully endorse Mr Hosty's letter initiative here.

[1man1desk]

Posted by Roywhiting:

quote:It seems like consultants are in the most powerful positions in these situations as they can insist on best practice in the absence of a local DC archaeologist.

There is some truth in that - consultants can promote good practice, and we certainly try to do so in our organisation. However, relying on the consultants for this purpose is a dangerous road to go down, and there is a limit to what a consultant can do.

You have to remember what consultants are for. The key purpose as I see it is to help clients to navigate the maze of regulatory requirements so that they can achieve their aims. Everything else that any environmental consultant (including archaeologists) flows from that one basic purpose.

We can tell a developer what would represent good practice and what would be advisable to do. However, we would have to make clear any difference between that and what the have to do. If we tell a developer that they have to do something that is not required by law and has not been requested by any regulatory authority (=local authority) and is not likely to be asked for, then we are behaving dishonestly and possibly illegally. It would be similar to a garage telling you that your car engine was knackered and needs replacing when all you needed was an oil change.

As an example, we recently had three cases where we had prepared the client for a requirement to do trial trenching based on a 5% sample. The curator in each case responded to our consultation with a request for a much smaller sample (one of them was less than 1%). What are we to do? tell the client that the curator is wrong and they should spend several times as much money just to please us?



1man1desk

to let, fully furnished

[BAJR Host]

Any more comments before I start to print off?



Another day another WSI?

[troll]

Since when does a council have the right to decide the level of public representation when it comes to their heritage? Surely, councils don`t have the right to reduce/remove the only publically accountable archaeologists we have? Rightyho-lets write to the local papers and suggest that local taxpayers withold their council tax contributions.Seek out some public-spirited lawyers willing to take the council to court.Get the local mayor to sell off his flash car and the dangly shiny stuff hanging from the neck.Call Mark Thomas! If this does evolve into a national fad, this may very well be the time to go public-big styleee.

..knowledge without action is insanity and action without knowledge is vanity..(imam ghazali,ayyuhal-walad)

[destroyer]

Problem is troll that we tend to give local authorities the right to do what they want when we elect them. Until its a legal responsibility for them to employ heritage professionals of any sort then they can deal with staffing levels as they see fit to suit their budget - and that includes sacking everybody.

[troll]

G`day Destroyer! Granted-however, by exposing the decisions of said elected peeps to the glare of the media, their electors will be made aware of the idiocy of their representatives.If said councillors have nothing to be ashamed of-they surely won`t mind if their decisions are exposed to a wide audience.In this country, democracy is reduced to a pantomime.Once a given set of individuals have been elected-they seem to believe that all decisions on behalf of their electors can be made without any further consultation.I would argue that by planning a carefully worded campaign (locally to begin with) in the media, the public would stand up and be loud.A good example would be the "leaks" that reach the press from the current UK "government". The dirt planned and executed behind closed doors tends to become a valuable tool in the removal of public servants when exposed to the light.

..knowledge without action is insanity and action without knowledge is vanity..(imam ghazali,ayyuhal-walad)

[star-nosed mole]

I too am apalled by these seemingly unthinking funding changes at NCC. I've managed to construct a fairly coherent letter, combining bits of Hosty's suggested letter and various people's comments, and will be sending it off to my MP and Northants CC pronto!

[star-nosed mole]

Oh, and rather ironically, this is the quote from the NCC website from the council's chairman, Counciller Gina Ogden:

"I am very proud to be Chairman of the County Council of Northamptonshire, a beautiful county with magnificent churches and stately homes. Northamptonshire has played an important part in English history and heritage"

Hmmmm....