It seems the dislike of large rallies by PAS and others has finally fed into Government thinking. See the current Consultation about a post-Brexit environmental land management system. It contains aspirations that would make holding large rallies impossible:
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1.)“The system will help us to deliver our manifesto commitment to be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we inherited it”. Yet it’s beyond all denial that mass detecting rallies impoverish the historic environment, not enhance it.
2.) It will also include “a more effective application of the ‘polluter pays’ principle” which indicates farmers who damage the natural environment will have to pay – and so will those who allow others to damage the historic environment.
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Soon to be mere history? Two thousand paying artefact hunters helping themselves on archaeologically sensitive fields alongside the Ridgeway in Oxfordshire. About time too?
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22/06/2018 at 01:06
thesingingsaint
Responsible detecting does not damage the environment at all, in fact it can do a great service to areas heavily polluted by old lead use, which was rampant and widespread until mere decades ago. Many detcting enthusiasts make it their mission to clear the toxic and otherwise dangerous materials they encounter, especially in waterways. Perhaps your impression of decting enthusiasts is one of a looking down upon the “lesser than you” human enjoying the activity. That is the general attitude i notice from those so strongly opposed to people having harmless fun. Wouldn’t those sparse relics, which are generally mere inches below the surface, have just sat there undiscovered anyway? Maybe you just want them all for yourself. Many people make a mission of returning relics and lost items to their owners, or even museums. Educate yourself instead of judging people, please.
22/06/2018 at 07:13
heritageaction
“Responsible detecting does not damage the environment at all”.
That’s a very questionable claim but in any event you seem to have misunderstood the article. It was saying that mass detecting rallies are certainly not responsible detecting and certainly impoverish the historic environment, not enhance it.