27th November 2010, 05:59 PM
Dinosaur Wrote:Will this have any direct effect on the amount of commercial work? - although presumably less regulation and less quality control if less curators? Developers will still have to comply with PPS5 etc, or will less curatorial oversight encourage non-compliance?
Non-compliance with what? If there aren't any development control archaeologists to advise archaeological conditions then there won't be anything to comply with. This will surely have a massive effect on the amount of commercial work out there. In my experience Planning Officers/Departments are already stretched - will planning officers have the time to ensure archaeological conditions are applied where needed? Even if they do have the time will they have the specialist knowledge to ensure the right condition is applied? Or are we going to be happy with a situation where developers and/or their consultants recommend conditions through heritage statements and trust them to do so with the archaeological interest not their profit margins in mind?