HC Deb 12 February 1990 vol 167 cc61-2W
Mr. Fisher

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many sites in total are protected as scheduled ancient monuments.

Mr. Trippier

At present, approximately 13,000 monument sites in England are included in the Secretary of State's schedule of ancient monuments.

Mr. Fisher

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will amend circular 8/87 to detail the ways in which local authorities can apply the principle of recognising the preservation of monuments as a material consideration in the planning process.

Mr. Trippier

No; but we shall shortly be issuing draft planning policy guidance on "Archaeology and Planning" for public consultation, which will include advice to local authorities on the weight to be given in planning decisions to the preservation of archaeological remains.

Mr. Fisher

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he plans to instruct local authorities to include archaeological policies in their local and district.

Mr. Trippier

We will shortly be issuing a consultation paper on Archaeology and Planning. This will incorporate advice on development plan policies for archaeological sites.

Mr. Fisher

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will issue a planning circular giving guidance to local authorities about their use of planning conditions(a) to preserve and (b) to investigate archaeological sites.

Mr. Trippier

I hope shortly to announce the issue for public consultation of draft planning policy guidance on "Archaeology and Planning". This will include advice to local planning authorities on the use of planning conditions in this context. Some guidance is already extant in circular 1/85 on the use of planning conditions to allow archaeologists access to sites for the purposes of recording remains in advance of development.

Mr. Fisher

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make it his policy to give ancient landscapes the status of scheduled ancient monuments.

Mr. Trippier

This is not simply a question of policy. Any decision to schedule ancient landscapes would involve a number of considerations. The term "monument" is defined in section 61(7) of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. Assuming an ancient landscape falls within this definition, it would also need to be of national importance judged against the criteria to which I referred in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Staffordshire, South (Mr. Cormack) on 29 January 1990,Official Report, col. 67–68.

Mr. Fisher

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will publish a table detailing the sites designated as scheduled ancient monuments in each of the past five years.

Mr. Trippier

The following is a table detailing the number of sites scheduled in each of the past five years.

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
49 49 10 31 30

Back to