8th July 2005, 09:11 AM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by deepdigger
But can't the mounties put conditions on the dig?
No written report, no digging for instance?
I'd ban em from digging full stop after what they did to us in Caerleon and Blaenafon was just a joke!!
deep
No! We can put conditions on planning permissions that say (roughly) "You will do the archaeology on the site according to an agreed scheme, before you trash it with your new building" We can monitor those conditions, and adherence to the agreed method statement. And the planning permission has a basis in law to take action if it is breached. The problem (and this is where the Govt & EH have [u]blatently </u>not addressed Article 3(i & ii) of the Valletta Convention), is that on private land, anyone can do to an archaeological site whatever the hell they like! This can range from ploughing it out, getting the locals in for a furtle, letting a metal detectorists rally happen on it, rent it to four-wheel-drive enthusiasts for a weekend, etc. etc. As has been pointed out on this forum previously, archaeology is a public resource. Fine! But the fact is that any member of the public can also go and dig it up - however (un)qualified they may be. There is NO LAW to stop them unless the site is Scheduled, and NO ONE formally checking that it is done properly. Even units act under these rules - I've just received a report from an IFA RAO, who carried out a watching brief on a pipeline in my County, that I didn't even know about. They were under no obligation to inform me, because the work was a statutory undertaking, and therefore not governed by planning permission. I have no idea if they were working to a method statement for this work. I don't know if it was monitored by anyone. Most units would inform me that they were working here as a courtesy, but obviously not all, and this one will be on the receiving end of a sharp letter from me in the near future. However I'm scratching around in the RAO guidelines to find quotable cause for complaint, and legally, they've done nothing wrong. The reality is that if Time Team or anyone else wants to dig up a site, all they have to do is knock on the owners' door and get his/her permission. Under these kinds of rules we should be thankful that TT even use some professional archaeologists! A joke it is - but don't lay all the blame at the Mounties' feet. Start having a whinge at the Government and English Heritage and APPAG, and lobby for some change.