24th June 2011, 01:35 PM
Let us keep this on the boil! I believe this is a major challenge to heritage protection measures in this country by a desperate government which may, I repeat 'may', be testing the temperature of reaction or the will in the country to fight to keep this reforms in place at a time of economic national difficulty. The notion, as muted in Cllr. Melton's keynote speech to the construction industry that money saved on heritage investigations could be diverted to fund education is as we all know drivel; any money saved will go back to developers either as project savings, bonuses or dividends. Do not get me wrong we need and must support as a heritage industry a strong economy. Profit is not an obscene word, although I would like to see some for archaeologists pay, but company profits must not be at the expense of hard won heritage protection reforms which have taken decades to put in place.