Northumberland forum 23 room
Image by thesweetcheat
close
more_vert

I've got a reply from the Asst. County Archaeologist. He wrote that planning control isn't determined at County Hall (in Morpeth) but at Tynedale District Council (in Hexham) and that they publish a list of planning applications. He didn't mention the historic site at all! (So no surprise there then). I'm sending an informal note to the Chief Planning Officer asking whether they've written to me in the past year, over the original complaint about the first unplanned shooting road. There is still a possibility that they've indeed written to me but that the letter went adrift. (The two planning applications made by Knarsdale Estates are adequately listed and may be Googled). It's good to know our ancient monuments are in such secure hands!

In secure hands?
'Course they are and always will be.

From EH's Committee minutes in January, talking about what gets designated for protection -

"Populism was suggested as an increasingly significant factor in the designation process; however it was felt that, while it was necessary for English Heritage to be aware of what the wider public valued and was interested in, this was only one factor in determining priorities. The role of the expert in designation and subsequent planning was vital.

You, by definition, are a populist voice and are to be ignored. Instead, protection designation is to be the exclusive preserve of a body that has made a string of outrageous high profile cock ups. Who says so? They do!