12th November 2010, 03:57 PM
I think this was an opening skirmish. Lord Howarth of Newport was the Minister for the Arts from 1998-2001. He was also the local MP when the Newport Ship was found in 2002 so we can expect him to be on the ball when it comes to archaeology. What is important is that these things are being highlighted to government. We must also remember that EH will not be cutting the funding to designation and planning advice.
The coalition has a plan to reform the planning system to make it more democratic. We know this is coming and we know there will be a consultation and what we as a profession must do is debate the issues well in advance so that our views can be put to government in a coherent way. Archaeologists have many friends in Parliament and this debate is an example of that. Indeed my constituency MP John Howells has a PhD in archaeology and he came into politics following a campaign (which was successful) to stop gravel extraction around the Dorchester Henges. Archaeology was the key issue.
Peter
(Coalition Supporter!)
The coalition has a plan to reform the planning system to make it more democratic. We know this is coming and we know there will be a consultation and what we as a profession must do is debate the issues well in advance so that our views can be put to government in a coherent way. Archaeologists have many friends in Parliament and this debate is an example of that. Indeed my constituency MP John Howells has a PhD in archaeology and he came into politics following a campaign (which was successful) to stop gravel extraction around the Dorchester Henges. Archaeology was the key issue.
Peter
(Coalition Supporter!)