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2nd December 2008, 01:03 PM
The Queen's speech may not be until tomorow but all the polical blogs have the Heritage Protection Bill firmly marked as dropped.
So I'd just like to take this opportunity to welcome archaeology back to political wilderness. After all that lobbying and discussion we briefly brushed with the big time before being firmly kicked into the long grass.
Cynical moi? I know it may return another day (another year) but it once again underlines how heritage, shortly follwed by the environment in general, generally gets good lip-service from our political masters, not to mention PR, but never anything of true substance.
Rant over.
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2nd December 2008, 02:44 PM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by gonetopot
So I'd just like to take this opportunity to welcome archaeology back to political wilderness.
Personally, I'm hoping to welcome Archaeology back onto the political landscape! All the talk over the last few years has been about generic "Heritage Assets" and we're all generic "Heritage Professionals". Screw that! Let's be "Archaeologists" again, and start telling the Government what that means - not cap-doffing to their ill-informed and underfunded "Heritage" Agenda.
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2nd December 2008, 02:52 PM
I completely agree. I don't intend to become a 'heritage asset' until I have been buried (complete with flint tools on top of a hill).
But wouldn't it be nice to be included in just a little bit of 'modern' legislation, not just a cobbled together combination of Acts of Parliament. PPG16 has changed the face of archaeology since it was conceived and must surely be modernised, although obviousy I am seriously underestimating how long it takes to progress such revisions through out legislative system.
I am a relatively young archaeologist, been around a few years, but I fear I could still be waiting for such changes when I am long in the tooth and body-broken.
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2nd December 2008, 03:45 PM
I think you're right gonetopot. It would be nice to be refreshed a bit. However, modern doesn't always mean better (although the Government appear to think it does). Perhaps it's a case of "Better the Devil You Know". It would be difficult, if not impossible, to implement this Bill with the funding provisions the Government has set out, so maybe we should be happy to stay with the situation we've got until they can come back with a better thought-out and properly resourced piece of legislation. A big loss if this does go down would be the statutory requirement for Historic Environment Records though, so we'll have to keep lobbying for those.
What is a shame, is the amount of professional time this has wasted. There are plenty of people who've been thoroughly occupuied for a good few years now in working towards getting this implemented. Their time would've been much better spent looking after the heritage itself! No doubt UNESCO will have some pithy comments to make too - I wonder if anyone will be able to persuade them not to remove Stonehenge from the list of World Heritage Sites now? :face-huh:
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3rd December 2008, 01:01 PM
The Heritage Bill was
not included in the Queen's speech today.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7762405.stm
Mr. Hosty - I believe this means your hat is safe. :face-approve:
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3rd December 2008, 01:26 PM
I can't wait to see our corporate response to this. [xx(]
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3rd December 2008, 01:47 PM
I heard on the news this morning that Lord Mandelson had been going through the Queen's Speech, cutting out anything that would not be helpful to business in the light of the economic downturn. So, it appears we may have the 'Prince of Darkness' to thank for the loss of the Heritage Protection Bill!
1man1desk
to let, fully furnished
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3rd December 2008, 02:31 PM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by 1man1desk
...it appears we may have the 'Prince of Darkness' to thank for the loss of the Heritage Protection Bill!
I'd have thought that the Government's sudden realisation of their gross underestimation of the likely costs of its implementation, coupled with the £200bn and counting bank bail-out that's run the coffers dry might have helped put the kybosh on it too.
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3rd December 2008, 03:57 PM
Apparently they're still commited to it and will phase aspects in. There is an official coment on EH's website.
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3rd December 2008, 04:30 PM
Indeed, Digger. We're told that
"It is disappointing, but understandable in the current economic climate, that Parliamentary time has not been found to take forward the Heritage Protection Bill at this time. However, we welcome the Government's firm commitment to the Heritage Protection Reform programme already underway and to introducing legislation at the earliest opportunity.
The good news is that more than two-thirds of the changes set out in the Heritage White Paper can go ahead. Using the new Planning Policy Statement, accompanying Guidance and forthcoming English Heritage initiatives as a new focus for reform, we can still achieve many of our goals to improve the system, widen public involvement and simplify protection processes."
There are also links to summaries of what can and cannot be done without the bill, which I will now read and inwardly digest.
Resistance is futile. Your project documentation will be MoRPHE-compliant.
