5th February 2007, 10:00 AM
Whether money is no object or not, it is always a material consideration - for everyone. I'd do my best with any advice I gave to persuade the farmer that putting his building somewhere else would be more cost-effective, less time consuming, and less hassle, although if that didn't get me anywhere I'm with Mr. Hosty - I'd recommend refusal of the application. It's an "easily explainable"* site so there shouldn't be any surprises or difficulties for the planners in accepting this. If it were a previously known site, I'd also consult English Heritage to see why the assessment programme had either missed it previously, or decided against Scheduling.
(* By "easily explainable", I mean it's easier for non-archaeologists to grasp as being a site of significance. This type of scenario has come up recently where I work, but in relation to 19th Century, WWII and Cold War monuments. These are a lot harder to defend to the unenlightened.)
If digging was the only option, and this is mainly to supplement what Beamo said, I would make sure the WSI was appropriate, but I wouldn't ask for details of the digging team - apart from almost certainly requesting the name of the Project Officer in charge on site to satisfy the requirement that the work was being carried out by someone suitably qualified. My role would be to ensure the WSI was completed as I had agreed.
(* By "easily explainable", I mean it's easier for non-archaeologists to grasp as being a site of significance. This type of scenario has come up recently where I work, but in relation to 19th Century, WWII and Cold War monuments. These are a lot harder to defend to the unenlightened.)
If digging was the only option, and this is mainly to supplement what Beamo said, I would make sure the WSI was appropriate, but I wouldn't ask for details of the digging team - apart from almost certainly requesting the name of the Project Officer in charge on site to satisfy the requirement that the work was being carried out by someone suitably qualified. My role would be to ensure the WSI was completed as I had agreed.