16th January 2007, 09:46 AM
A watching brief cannot be an assessment of impact - which is why it is never put forward as such. It is put forward instead as a mitigation method, which follows both the assessment and the subsequent decision to grant consent.
Assessment of impact, however, does not necessarily depend on evaluation, and not all evaluation necessarily means trial excavation. If you have done a desk-top and walkover survey that concludes that there is very little chance of any archaeology being present, it can be hard to justify carrying out something as onerous as a trial excavation. Depending on circumstances, you might go for no further action, or for a watching brief as a sort of 'back stop'.
Of course, there is no clear dividing line, just a big grey area, and how you make the decision depends on all sorts of case-by-case factors. Also, there are other options (e.g. geophysics) that you might put in place before deciding on whether or not to go for trial excavation.
Having said that, if you do know there is archaeology there, you have to have a very good reason before choosing watching brief as the principal method of mitigation.
1man1desk
to let, fully furnished
Assessment of impact, however, does not necessarily depend on evaluation, and not all evaluation necessarily means trial excavation. If you have done a desk-top and walkover survey that concludes that there is very little chance of any archaeology being present, it can be hard to justify carrying out something as onerous as a trial excavation. Depending on circumstances, you might go for no further action, or for a watching brief as a sort of 'back stop'.
Of course, there is no clear dividing line, just a big grey area, and how you make the decision depends on all sorts of case-by-case factors. Also, there are other options (e.g. geophysics) that you might put in place before deciding on whether or not to go for trial excavation.
Having said that, if you do know there is archaeology there, you have to have a very good reason before choosing watching brief as the principal method of mitigation.
1man1desk
to let, fully furnished