5th December 2005, 02:25 PM
PMP,
Good points, well presented, I think I agree with everything you say.
I should point out that when archaeology went private/commercial/competitive, I was viscerally opposed to it. I have changed my view as time went by, simply because I saw the improvements in archaeological practice and in resources (money) available that came about as a result.
In an entirely public-sector, public-funded system, the parent public body will always have other priorities for spending its money, so archaeology will get shafted (as it used to do before PPG16).
However, if you say the developer must pay (which is only fair), then you can't in fairness tell them: we will specify the scope, appoint a contractor and charge you what we like. They will feel they are being shafted, and they will sometimes be right.
The only workable compromise is to make them pay, but also give them contractual control over the archaeological field unit, subject to approval of WSI/quality standards/monitoring by curators.
1man1desk
to let, fully furnished
Good points, well presented, I think I agree with everything you say.
I should point out that when archaeology went private/commercial/competitive, I was viscerally opposed to it. I have changed my view as time went by, simply because I saw the improvements in archaeological practice and in resources (money) available that came about as a result.
In an entirely public-sector, public-funded system, the parent public body will always have other priorities for spending its money, so archaeology will get shafted (as it used to do before PPG16).
However, if you say the developer must pay (which is only fair), then you can't in fairness tell them: we will specify the scope, appoint a contractor and charge you what we like. They will feel they are being shafted, and they will sometimes be right.
The only workable compromise is to make them pay, but also give them contractual control over the archaeological field unit, subject to approval of WSI/quality standards/monitoring by curators.
1man1desk
to let, fully furnished