10th June 2009, 08:45 AM
Okay, so coming in late, but here's an idea...
Nobody seems to want a socialist approach, but the capitalist one is pretty knackered in the current economic climate. No development means no archaeology, means no work for any of us. So, it seems to me that what we need is some sort of incentive for developers to consider archaeology as a crucial part of their development, but not one which means the development becomes non-profitable. At the moment the whole economy needs an incentive scheme which gets development back on its feet.
So what about some form of rebate for businesses that pursue best practice archaeology during their development? I would envisage this as similar to rebates used in a number of countries for developers who pursue environmentally friendly and low energy options in their developments. The rebate wouldn't cover the cost of the archaeology, the developer would still have to cover that, but it would be large enough to ensure developers pursue best practice options (say a 30% rebate of the costs of the archaeological work for example). Obviously this would need to be worked out at a far greater level of complexity but you get the idea.
This would cover a number of bases; first it would provide incentive to developers to get developing again without having to be overly concerned about the costs of archaeology (but only if they do get good archaeology done), which would help the economy which helps all of us; second it would provide incentive for developers to pursue a higher standard of archaeology than they usually do; third it would be in the nation's best interest by preserving the archaeological record for generations to come, which is exactly what PPG16 is supposed to ensure.
This isn't a socialist model, it is a capitalist one which provides incentive for developers to pursue a course that acts in the best interests of the people and the nation.
Comments?
Nobody seems to want a socialist approach, but the capitalist one is pretty knackered in the current economic climate. No development means no archaeology, means no work for any of us. So, it seems to me that what we need is some sort of incentive for developers to consider archaeology as a crucial part of their development, but not one which means the development becomes non-profitable. At the moment the whole economy needs an incentive scheme which gets development back on its feet.
So what about some form of rebate for businesses that pursue best practice archaeology during their development? I would envisage this as similar to rebates used in a number of countries for developers who pursue environmentally friendly and low energy options in their developments. The rebate wouldn't cover the cost of the archaeology, the developer would still have to cover that, but it would be large enough to ensure developers pursue best practice options (say a 30% rebate of the costs of the archaeological work for example). Obviously this would need to be worked out at a far greater level of complexity but you get the idea.
This would cover a number of bases; first it would provide incentive to developers to get developing again without having to be overly concerned about the costs of archaeology (but only if they do get good archaeology done), which would help the economy which helps all of us; second it would provide incentive for developers to pursue a higher standard of archaeology than they usually do; third it would be in the nation's best interest by preserving the archaeological record for generations to come, which is exactly what PPG16 is supposed to ensure.
This isn't a socialist model, it is a capitalist one which provides incentive for developers to pursue a course that acts in the best interests of the people and the nation.
Comments?