Corporate archaeology: Is it the future or is it the past?

[P Prentice]

Apologies, Mad, I wasn't aware that there were any areas of the country where this had actually reached the stage of being implemented. I knew that it had been suggested by a number of Councils, but always in a hypothetical sort of way - basically floating the idea, to see what the public response would be, to see whether they could get away with it. If the Council in your area actually reached the stage of asking the local society whether they'd be interested in taking on the role of the County Archaeologist, that represents a worrying development



I wasn't saying that I necessarily believed that lobbying by local societies would change Council policies, I was just saying that this is what I thought Wax meant in his/her post. I'm well aware of the sterling work done by local societies, going all the way back to the rescue excavation of sites in the pre-PPG days, and I think that their vocal presence can still act as a brake on the wholesale dismantling of Council archaeology services.



This is exactly the sort of thing I mean - this sort of vocal campaigning makes it difficult for the Council to sneak decisions through without public scrutiny of their actions (something that applies to all potential cuts, not just archaeology / heritage). Even if it's not successful, it at least forces the Council to think about the decision a bit more, if only because of the need to justify it to the public.



As regards disenfranchisement (if that's the correct word - possibly disenfranchism?), presumably this would be at least partially addressed should the Southport recommendations ever be implemented, but I'd also say that I've never understood why so many local societies consider that the rise of commercial archaeology has prevented them from being at the front line of activities. Sure, they may not be able to work on construction sites in advance of development, but they're basically free to pick a nice site and dig it (provided that they get the permission of the landowner), something that's not available to the commercial contractor, who may spend most of his / her life stuck on building sites watching foundations going in and not finding much at all. In my area, there are a number of active local field societies who undertake excavation of this type, and who have made nationally-important discoveries as a result - if this isn't being at the front line of activities, I don't know what is.

I'd also say that there are some local societies who probably would like a greater role in the planning process. Maybe not acting as unpaid County Archaeologists, but possibly as consultees on developments in their area. I know that this was something suggested by the Council of Independent Archaeologists (the other CIA) a few years ago, and I don't necessarily think it's a bad idea, as it would give them an input into decisions affecting developments in their area (for example, a local group may have a different assessment of the significance of a particular site than someone looking at it in a county- or country-wide context). I've tried this sort of thing in relation to EIAs for large-scale developments like windfarms and opencast schemes, and have often encountered problems getting a response, which is perhaps not surprising when dealing with voluntary groups who may need to run any reply past a committee. However, it does suggest a potential issue for any Council looking to outsource heritage advice to the voluntary sector - if you're working in the planning system, there are usually tight deadlines for responses and for determining applications, but people fulfilling this function in their own time may not feel a particular obligation to work to these.



Sorry you're having a tough time at the moment, hope things pick up soon (and before anyone asks how I've had time to write such a long response while still holding down a job, I'm not at work today. I'm waiting in for someone to come to fix the effing boiler, which packed up on Wednesday, so it's not all beer and skittles in the Brody household either!)

you know marcus. he is petulently reasonable!