27th January 2011, 10:16 AM
Quote:Environmental Stewardship such as HLS DOES fund restoration and recording projects it just doesn't fund excavation (in most circumstances) because it is directed at good environmental management rather than preservation by record under the 'polluter pays' principle - and digging stuff up doesn't agree with these goals. Natural England puts millions of pounds per year into archaeology and not just 'management plans', although we do fund these to find out the costs and scope an appropriate method before we commit to a restoration or enhancement project.
@Chrysalis, good to have your input. I'm certainly glad that Natural England is funding archaeology, Farm Environment Plans and the Environmental Stewardship Schemes are great. There are a lot of knackered barns, etc out there that need some love. Restoring the Exmoor mires is also doing a great deal to preserve archaeology. However, Stewardship is limited to the Target Areas, and by the landowner being willing to participate. ALSF does not fund excavation either, though it does seem to fund some post ex and publication of legacy projects.
@Kevin, ALSF never was intended to replace developer funding, but it has contributed to a number of resource asessments and technical studies. It helps planning authorities get data to base their decisions on. A full list is here
http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/projArch...N=39545028
ALSF basically funds research designs and resource assessments, based on aggregates extraction but not limited to quarries or current or past areas of extraction.
There are impacts and potential impacts to the historic environment whcih are caused by development, but which are very difficult to pin down to a particular developer, sometimes because the licences havent been granted yet. This Suffolk project is a good example of that http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/arch...N=39545028
Many of these seek to enhance the HER in the blank areas, and allow decisions about mitigation to be better informed, such as the Peak District Assessment http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/arch...N=39545028