Fenland District Council to relax archaeological planning regulations

[kevin wooldridge]

If Mike manages to convince the Minister to safeguard archaeological interests through the planning process can I suggest we start a petition calling on Simon Thurley of EH to turn down his recently awarded CBE and instead hand it over to Mike Heyworth!!

[Marcus Brody]

Of course, if one were completely paranoid, which I am, one would say that meeting with Mike will allow the Minister to say that he's consulted widely, has listened to both sides of the debate, and has decided that Councillor Melton is right and that all these bunny huggers are just an obstruction to development and economic recovery! As I said before, it can be difficult to convince someone about why developers should have to pay to deal with archaeology if they reject the basic premise of the argument that archaeology is of any value. All they hear is some beardy type in a bad jumper wittering on about different coloured mud. I'm not suggesting that the Minister necessarily holds views like this (or that Mike has a beard or wears bad jumpers), but I'm just aware that there is a certain type of politician who goes into meetings like this purely so they can say that they've listened, when in fact they have no intention of altering a decision or preconception that they've already made.

[P Prentice]

i dont think it matters much who said what to who but what does matter is that the issue is out in the public domain and the poweres that be will have to take note of the public reaction

[Simon Collcutt]

IFA & Oxford Archaeology Associates(?) are writing an open letter to the TIMES. I am currently in touch with THE INDEPENDENT.

Try: http://www.britarch.ac.uk/news/110627-fenland-update

All the best,

Simon

[BAJR]

Perfect.. thanks for that Simon.

[Madweasels]

Mike can add it to his MBE.

[Land-Escapist]

I am not an Archaeologist but I am employed within the building planning and design management industry and Cambridgeshire is my home. From time to time I come across sites where digs are necessary, when speaking to the diggers it is obvious that they are not in it for the poor pay they receive, the working conditions are horrendous but they have passion.

From what I can gather, Alan Melton does not represent the views of the majority my colleagues in the construction industry or the inhabitants of the Fens. It begs the question, whose ideals does he represent?
Has he seen the poll carried out by http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/development_...r_1_929730

I am sure Eric Pickles will give him a pat on the back!

Its good to hear that Alan Melton's views are not supported by other groups. Kudos to Mike Heyworth on the interview, it was well argued and no childish name calling. I really hope someone didn't tell Alan Melton to 'go to hell' as he stated during the interview, it seems the majority of correspondence sent to him was not insulting but well argued and clearly written points of view. Will the planning laws actually be relaxed in three days time, or has there been a backtrack? (I may have missed it earlier in the thread although I did have a look)

And has anyone actually tried hugging a bunny? They are immensely squirmy and I tend to not hold on to them very long...

[VGC]

From what I gather Private Eye will most likely be featuring the story in the Rotten Boroughs section of the next issue.

[BAJR]

It is a perfect story for Private Eye. and has all the amkings of a story, that when picked over and troweled clean will reveal some fascinating insights. }

[Lucky]

Anyone see any worth in requesting under FoI copies of all of the letters, e-mails etc (obviously without identifying anyones personal details) sent to Alan Melton regarding this issue? It might be interesting to see how many reasoned, sensible comments he recieved, versus offensive (albeit mild, so far), he has recieved!