Memorandum submitted by the Association
of Local Government Archaeological Officers for England (ALGAO:England)
1. THE ROLE
OF ALGAO:ENGLAND
The Association of Local Government Archaeological
Officers for England (ALGAO:England) is the national body representing
local government archaeology services at County, District, Metropolitan,
Unitary and National Park level in England. ALGAO:England co-ordinates
the views of its member authorities (93 in total) and presents
them to government and to other national organisations.
The range of interests of our members embraces
all aspects of the historic environment including archaeology,
buildings and the historic landscape. Of particular relevance
to the draft Heritage Bill, ALGAO:England members are responsible
for the management of all Historic Environment Records (HERs)
and for the management of the 95% of the archaeological heritage
which is not designated.
2. GENERAL COMMENT
ALGAO:England welcomes and supports the draft
Heritage Bill and its proposals to unify the system of heritage
designations and consents and to make the system more open and
accountable. The evidence presented here relates to key issues
of principle and policy which we wish to draw to the Committee's
attention in order to strengthen the implementation and benefits
of the reforms. In particular, ALGAO:England commends the submission
made by The Archaeology Forum (TAF).
3. HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT
RECORDS
We particularly welcome the proposals to make
the maintenance of Historic Environment Records a new statutory
responsibility of higher tier local government and national park
authorities, a measure we feel will be of benefit to the new heritage
protection system and also of benefit to the wider public who
are interested in their local heritage. We also support the draft
Guidance on Historic Environment Records, published by DCMS on
2 May.
ALGAO:England would request that the Committee
supports the provision to make the creation and maintenance of
Historic Environment Records a new statutory duty of higher-tier
local authorities and national park authorities.
4. RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS
FOR ALGAO:ENGLAND
MEMBER AUTHORITIES
AND ENGLISH
HERITAGE
We note the figures provided in the Impact Assessment
which was published with the draft Heritage Bill. Whilst we do
not challenge the figures provided, we feel that they are likely
to underestimate the true cost of implementation. We also would
like assurance that English Heritage has sufficient resources
to implement the Bill, and also to undertake the necessary preparatory
work before the Bill becomes law.
ALGAO:England would therefore request that the
Committee supports a review of the additional cost to local government,
to be undertaken by DCMS and English Heritage in conjunction with
the Local Government Association and its heritage advisors, which
include ALGAO:England.
5. NEW PLANNING
POLICY STATEMENT
FOR THE
HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT
ALGAO:England strongly supports the provisions
in the draft Heritage Bill that move the management of the historic
environment closer to the heart of the planning system. However,
in order that the protection of the historic environment under
the new heritage protection system continues to be a key material
consideration in planning policy, we consider it essential that
the current PPGs 15 and 16 are replaced by new secondary legislation
and guidance including a Planning Policy Statement for the Historic
Environment. In particular, PPG 16: Archaeology and Planning,
is now 18 years old and will need to be replaced once the provisions
of the draft Bill become law.
We also consider that the successful reform
of PPG 16 will require the active engagement of ALGAO:England.
This is because ALGAO:England members are currently responsible
for the protection of the archaeological heritage via the planning
system. Much of the relevant knowledge and understanding of the
planning system with respect to archaeology therefore resides
with ALGAO:England members and their teams and the untilisation
of this expertise will be essential to ensure that the key protection
that PPG 16 provides for the archaeological heritage is not reduced.
ALGAO:England urges the Committee to support,
as a matter of high priority, joint work by DCMS, DCLG and the
historic environment sector to develop new planning secondary
legislation and guidance including a Planning Policy Statement
for the Historic Environment, to be published in conjunction with
the implementation of the new legislation.
6. ABOLITION
OF AREAS
OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL
IMPORTANCE (AAIS)
AAIs (Part II of the 1979 Act) are not included
in the draft Heritage Bill. While many of the objectives of AAIs
were superseded by polices and practices introduced by PPG16,
the designation is still regarded as having some value in the
five historic urban cities that are designated AAIs. This is particularly
in view of the control they provide over permitted development
such as utilities works which can be extremely damaging to complex
urban archaeological deposits. Unless some provision of this type
is provided by the Heritage Bill or associated guidance there
will be some loss of protection for archaeological deposits within
the AAIs.
ALGAO:England requests that the Committee inquire
into the steps taken by English Heritage and DCMS to assess the
possible impacts of removing AAI designation and the alternative
mechanisms that might be introduced to ensure there is no reduction
in protection in those important historic city centres.
7. REFORM OF
CLASS CONSENTS
(THE ANCIENT
MONUMENTS (CLASS
CONSENTS) ORDER
1994)
The present Class Consents Order permits the
continuing cultivation of Scheduled Monuments, a process that
cumulatively destroys the monument itself. The White Paper preceding
the draft Heritage Bill indicated that this practice would no
longer be permitted. We therefore consider that a class consent
for cultivation (and other works included in the current Class
Consent no 1) should not be included in any class consents order
that may be published under new legislation.
ALGAO:England requests that the Committee considers
asking for a withdrawal of Class I Consents for agricultural activities.
8. EXPERT ADVICE
TO LOCAL
PLANNING AUTHORITIES
We welcome the reference (106 5, a) in the draft
Heritage Bill to the need for local planning authorities to take
expert advice. We would however strongly suggest that the nature
of the expert advice is more clearly defined in the Bill or relevant
statutory guidance to ensure that it is from appropriately qualified
or accredited professionals within or otherwise advising the local
planning authority.
ALGAO:England emphasises to the Committee the
importance of provisions in the Bill or in supporting Guidance
to ensure that local authorities have access to appropriate professional
advice and expertise on the historic environment in discharging
their duties under the new system for heritage protection.
June 2008
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