HS2 high-speed - archaeologists jamboree?

[Marc Berger]

Pay what to whom for what?..and where is all this wonderful archaeology going to end up? Basically we have a developer: the state with compulsory purchase rights and enough indirect control over the inspectorate system who will employ archaeologists to work for them under their conditions and to then deposit the archive in an underfunded state storage facility at subsidised rates. No real compensation will ever be calculated for the loss of the archaeology to the original custodians: the landowners, who as a result place almost no value on its preservation other than as a last threat against planning applications often buried amongst bats and loss of amenity which they also little value. Until archaeologists start working for the land owners AGAINST "developers" with real costs based on proper evaluation methods Mr Woolldridges £30000 is whimsy but for a few consultants chancers paid to sit at Public Inquiries.

Until the landowners understand that archaeology value is based on "doing" archaeology all we are going to get is archaeologists going through the motions. And we all know what motions are.