Closure of the Kent Field School

[BAJR Host]

Dear Colleague,


Closure of the Field School


I need your help to prevent the closure or re-location of the Field School and SWAT Archaeology.


Our neighbor has applied for planning permission for change of use of the field adjoining the Field School classrooms and Swat offices to a Dog Training School. The Dog Training School has in fact been running for the last six months without permission. These lessons take place most evenings in the summer and Saturday and Sunday all year. The noise of up to twenty dogs being trained has to be experienced to be believed and, if it continues, it means that we will be unable to hold courses in our present location, or indeed conduct business in our offices, because of the disruption.


The application reference is SW/09/0099 and can be viewed on the UK Planning website at http://www.ukplanning.com/swale where you can comment on the application. To stop this continuing I would urge you to either comment on the above website or write to Swale Borough Council objecting to this application which will mean we can continue offering courses at the Field School. Grounds for objection include noise, and the impact on an established use to such an extent the School will close.


Please write to E P Jones, Swale House, East Street, Sittingbourne, Kent ME10 3HT

within the next seven days to help prevent this application being successful.


Yours sincerely,


Paul Wilkinson



?When a sinister person means to be your enemy, they always start by trying to become your friend.?
William Blake

[YellowPete]

So the field school is a local community asset, which brings people into a learning environment where they can be enabled to engage with their heritage and local history.

They need to train dogs there why?

People enjoying and engaging with local community and government, over security trained attack dogs......um.......?

I might write that letter after all



txt is
Mike

[BAJR Host]

Please people do write that letter

?When a sinister person means to be your enemy, they always start by trying to become your friend.?
William Blake

[afarensis]

We also received a copy of this letter, sent out to every county archaeologist in the country I suspect. Whilst I sympathise with their situation I have to admit that I have no further information on the application or the viability of the dog training school and as such do not feel it is correct to comment. I also feel that it is inappropriate to write to local government archaeological officers and county archaeologists asking them to get involved. What percentage of the local community uses either the field school or the dog training area.

It is a totally different situation if an archaeological field school serving 90% of the local community is forced to close because of a greyhound training school that trains dogs from all over the county than if a local dog training centre, used exclusively be the local community, cannot go ahead because of issues regarding an archaeological field school training people from all over the county. Im not sure that archaeological professionals, an certainly not independent local government archaeological officers, should jump on this just because archaeology is mentioned in one of the businesses names.

This is a matter for the local community and not for the archaeological world as a whole. I really doubt that letters of objection coming from Scotland are really going to affect any planning decision. In very much the same way that an objection over a Scottish planning application on the grounds that it affects the views of someone living in Kent also should not really be considered. Local planners are going to take into account the impact on current residents and businesses but are not going to take letters seriously from people all over the uk ona matter such as this.

I cannot imagine what 20 dogs sounds like, although I did grow up in the countryside and wonder if it is anything like the 180 dogs of the Hampshire Hunt, kennelled next door to where I grew up, 180 cows, 1500 sheep and 100000 pigs farmed by Danepack in the fields behind me. Noise was an issue but not so we couldn?t hear ourselves think or talk.

As the field unit charges ?35 per day for instruction that most local units would provide for free if you volunteered for them than at least they can afford to move unlike most actual units.


ten years on and still no bottom

[BAJR Host]

As the field unit charges ?35 per day for instruction that most local units would provide for free if you volunteered for them than at least they can afford to move unlike most actual units.

>> Hmm... not the same as just washing pots or data input, this is real courses, real training.

I would contest that such a long running and successful Field SChool does have a place, does have a real impact on the local community and can be supported by archaeologists across the UK. Just as much as my support for the PAS was coming from SCotland, but represented broad support from archaeologists.

I get what you mean - however, I leave it for others to judge whether or not they want to write.

>> I really doubt that letters of objection coming from Scotland are really going to affect any planning decision

You may indeed be right there, but, hey, nothing ventured...!

?When a sinister person means to be your enemy, they always start by trying to become your friend.?
William Blake

[YellowPete]

Primarily the school, from my perspective, would really be about keeping a viable option for the future of local public engagement with the professiona as much as the resource. So I don't fall in line for the finance issue, due to the fact that if we leave it purely to current viability, we may find ourselves ring fencing off avenues for public involvement and engagement with an actively engaging educational outdoor activity.

We can't pin all our hopes on woodland management schemes. come on?

On the other hand though, you may get as much experience from a commercial unit by volunteering, but this leaves the financing to the commercial unit and maintaining training and awareness necessary to work on, effectively, building sites.

So the commercial sector picks up the bill, which falls in line for the business model for keeping the country afloat, but we still need intermeiary bastions.

If education remains in the governments hands and not sold to highest bidder, then I feel they should maintain some local interest and restraint rather than leaving to a free economy.

As for writing across a great distance regarding local issues, for things that do not have a direct effect upon us I would say that maybe this would mean that I would be representing, as you say my industry, career or hobby interest.
But the fact remains that big business has been involved in lobbying outside of their areas of commercial practice to gain further support from groups not directly related to whatever commercial practice.

Its like saying it's ok if you are a billion dollar business, but if your industry is a drop in the ocean, you should keep out, or stay in the shallow end of the pool. Now there's a good industry........fetch, heal, attack.....stay.....stay.

Maybe not......



txt is
Mike

[YellowPete]

Where did that quantitative easing go.......

maybe it wont all go, but maybe too much



txt is
Mike

[drpeterwardle]

I am agreement with afarenis.

Who exactly are Kent Archaeological Field School and Swale and Thames Archaeological Survey Company? Can you tell us who owns the property?

Go on David can you tell us?

The planning issue is a perfectly simple one and there is a very simple solution to this. I do not think it appropriate for readers of BAJR to be asked to lobby like this.

The AUP and the notion that you cannot name companies or report public domain infomation about them prevents me writing what I wish.

Peter Wardle

[kevin wooldridge]

My father was for a long time an elected councillor for a Kent authority not so far away from Swale.

He told me that if you want to win an election at that level there are two things that matter 1) Make sure you have a surname at the end of the alphabet (its where people make their second choice after picking their preferred candidate) and 2) Promise to do something about dog-poop.

Sounds to me like the Faversham Dog Training Centre is a sure fire election winner and no amount of pressure from archaeologists is likely to sway the elected councillors of Swale!!

PS If anyone has seen the remarkable movie 'Milk', you will recall that even gay activist politicians cant resist the dog-poop election issue!!



With peace and consolation hath dismist, And calm of mind all passion spent...

[tmsarch]

quote:Originally posted by drpeterwardle

The AUP and the notion that you cannot name companies or report public domain infomation about them prevents me writing what I wish.

I find myself in much the same position as Peter - the KAFS and SWAT Archaeology are a company I know well and are a subject on which I would like to be able to comment. However I am not sure how I can truly comment on this topic without being in breach of the AUP

I have to ask why the original email from Dr Wilkinson has been posted here? Is this a topic that is worthy of debate/comment on BAJR?

I would suggest that anyone who does feel that they wish to comment of the application should ensure that they are fully aware of the quality of SWATs work and that their input into the planning process is an informed one - just because it mentions archaeology doesn't necessarily mean we should automatically offer support.