§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will list for the last 10 years the archaeological moated grange sites that have been demolished;
(2) if he will list the archaeological moated grange sites that are due to be lost because of planning permission approval being granted.
§ Sir Wyn RobertsResponsibility for the subject of the questions has been delegated to Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments Executive Agency under its chief executive, John Carr. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from E. A. J. Carr to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 1 December 1993:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your two recent Parliamentary Questions about the loss of moated grange sites in Wales.In my letter of 30 November in answer to your earlier questions about the identification and protection of moated sites generally in Wales I referred to recent Planning Policy Guidance issued by the Department on Archaeology and Planning. The Guidance gives advice on the handling of archaeological matters in the planning process. In particular it emphasises that the desirability of preserving an ancient monument and its setting is a material consideration in determining planning applications whether that monument is scheduled or unscheduled. Advice to local authorities in Wales who for the most part do not have in-house archaeological staff is available from the Welsh Archaeological Trusts who, as you know, maintain the Sites and Monuments Record. Against this policy background it is for local authorities themselves to determine planning applications for development of sites of archaeological interest. Cadw does not keep details of planning permission granted by Welsh local authorities which affect such sites.Where development is planned on a site scheduled as an ancient monument consent needs to be submitted to the Secretary of State. This is in addition to any application for planning permission. As I mentioned in my earlier letter Cadw's records of consent do not identify the monument by type but we are not aware of consent being granted for the demolition of any scheduled moated site in Wales in the past 10 years.