{"id":822,"date":"2013-10-29T14:56:46","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T14:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.adjacentgovernment.co.uk\/dev\/?p=822"},"modified":"2018-08-20T08:37:14","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T07:37:14","slug":"threat-to-archaeology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/threat-to-archaeology\/822\/","title":{"rendered":"The real threat to archaeology"},"content":{"rendered":"

In July 2013 a report on local government staff resources allocated to archaeology and building conservation was issued jointly by English Heritage, the Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers (ALGAO<\/a>), and the Institute of Historic Building Conservation1<\/sup>. The report outlined unequivocally the significant decline in the availability of the specialist advice that local authorities require if they are to deal properly and responsibly with our archaeological and built heritage. The downward trend in the provision of services began in 2006 and has seen the numbers of archaeological advisors, including Historic Environment Records (HER) officers, fall by 28% while the decline in the numbers of Conservation officers has been marked even more at 33%. In the past 12 months the number of archaeological specialists<\/a> has fallen by 3% and conservation officers by 4%. There is no sign of this ceasing and with further cuts to local authority budgets planned for the financial year 2013-2014, the situation will continue to worsen.<\/p>\n

A crisis in the planning system<\/h3>\n

The report shows the ongoing drop in the capacity of local councils to deal adequately with archaeological and historic sites within our towns, cities and countryside. The findings from the report confirm the anecdotal information collected by RESCUE over the same period, which indicates that heritage services are amongst the first to be targeted by local authorities when cuts are required to meet central government spending targets. Specific examples include the closure of the Merseyside HER and the withdrawal of advice to five local authorities (Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens & The Wirral) in a region that includes the Liverpool Waterfront World Heritage Site. Other areas affected by severe cuts include Portsmouth and the West Midlands where Sandwell and Dudley no longer have HERs, Walsall has no archaeological officer and the archaeology and historic buildings of Birmingham are now the responsibility of one individual. Such actions are directly contrary to the government\u2019s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)2<\/sup> which states:<\/p>\n

\u2018Local planning authorities should have up-to-date evidence about the historic environment in their area and use it to assess the significance of heritage assets and the contribution to their environment. …Local planning authorities should either maintain or have access to a historic environment record (NPPF paragraph 169).\u2019<\/p>\n

Government and the value of culture<\/h3>\n

In a speech delivered at the British Museum on 24th April 20133<\/sup>, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Maria Miller, drew attention to the immense value of culture (including heritage) to the economy. RESCUE questions the logic of emphasising the economic importance of our heritage while at the same time allowing spending to fall to the extent that the historic environment is no longer effectively protected4<\/sup>. The loss of local authority staff posts, a direct result of the government\u2019s imposition of unrealistic spending limits on local authorities, indicates a catastrophic gap between rhetoric and reality.<\/p>\n

Why does it matter?<\/h3>\n

An effective, professionally staffed HER and advice service is critical to ensuring that threats to archaeological sites posed by development are recognised, that appropriate mitigation schemes are put in place, and subsequent fieldwork is of a high standard to allow accurate and worthwhile interpretation of the results. Without the capacity to undertake these functions developers are at risk of being under-prepared for encountering archaeological material during construction works, and important new archaeological sites, such as the spectacular Anglo-Saxon princely burial at Prittlewell<\/a> and the large Iron Age and Roman site recently discovered in Peterborough<\/a> will be damaged or lost as a result.<\/p>\n

The government has responsibilities under international agreements (notably the Valetta Convention5<\/sup>) to ensure that heritage is protected. By failing to ensure the existence of a robust system of planning and development control they not only abrogating their responsibilities to international commitments, but also risking the loss of unique heritage assets resulting in cultural and economic impoverishment.<\/p>\n

Facing up to the crisis<\/h3>\n