13th July 2005, 06:49 PM
Welcome to 1man1desk another consultant on BAJRbaiting.
I agree with much that he says particularly about contacting curators. The point is that the client has a right to know what is on his land before anybody else. The worst case I know was when a land owner found out that there had been a significant discovery on his land when he read about it in the local newspaper.
This is particularly so if there has been a breach of a planning condition (we all know it happens).
There is the point that a consultant can usually resolve matters faster than a curator can in any event. Indeed there should be contingency arrangements in place in any event. If something crops up trully out of the blue there is a difficult situation all round. As has been mentioned PPG 16 specifically refers to this in para 31.
I would argue that their is too much recommending or advice in archaeology and not enough clear decisions. I never recommend things - that is not my job.
There is one case where watching briefs are neccessary which I am increasingly refeering to as a mooping up watching brief. On many projects I deal with there is no alternative but to be present while small amounts of ground are disturbed even after a set piece excavation. There is alway that bit of ground which could not be excavated for practical reasons or a position of a drainage run changed.
Peter
I agree with much that he says particularly about contacting curators. The point is that the client has a right to know what is on his land before anybody else. The worst case I know was when a land owner found out that there had been a significant discovery on his land when he read about it in the local newspaper.
This is particularly so if there has been a breach of a planning condition (we all know it happens).
There is the point that a consultant can usually resolve matters faster than a curator can in any event. Indeed there should be contingency arrangements in place in any event. If something crops up trully out of the blue there is a difficult situation all round. As has been mentioned PPG 16 specifically refers to this in para 31.
I would argue that their is too much recommending or advice in archaeology and not enough clear decisions. I never recommend things - that is not my job.
There is one case where watching briefs are neccessary which I am increasingly refeering to as a mooping up watching brief. On many projects I deal with there is no alternative but to be present while small amounts of ground are disturbed even after a set piece excavation. There is alway that bit of ground which could not be excavated for practical reasons or a position of a drainage run changed.
Peter