Strategic Information and Planning Advice

Local Plan policies underpin all of the development related archaeological work carried out in the city. A new Local Plan is under preparation, to cover the period 1996-2011. The opportunity has been taken to update the archaeological policies in line with current practice, and in conformity with the recently published County Structure Plan. The policies covering assessment, evaluation, preservation and recording have been revised, and new policies have been drafted which aim to provide protection for landscapes and to improve public access to sites and information.

An increasing feature of recent years has been the provision of archaeological recording on 'non-planning' developments, in particular street works. Even small-scale interventions, such as the CCTV ducting trenches described below, can affect important archaeological remains, and both structures and early deposits can survive just below modern surfaces. Government guidance is helping to ensure that the archaeological implications of these works are considered in a similar way to those of planning developments.

There are many new challenges. One of the most serious of these for archaeologists in towns is provided by the new requirements and guidance concerning the use of contaminated land. The need to ensure public safety means that a presumption in favour of preservation in situ can be overridden, and contaminated deposits removed. This is obviously an issue on brownfield development sites, where so much new building is currently concentrated, but can be a factor on any previously developed site.