Meeting documents

Apologies were given from Mr M Franklin, Ms E Alqassar, Mr S Newell, Mr N Crank and Mr D Sutherland.

There were no declarations of interests.

of the meeting held on 21/09/2015 to be confirmed

The Minutes of the meeting held on 21 September 2015 were agreed as a correct record.

Item 4: The Chairman reported that Mr M Franklin, representing the Royal Institute of British Architects, would be attending meetings in future.

Item 5: See Agenda Item 5.

Item 6:  Mr Farley explained that no further guidance was required at this time.

Item 9: Ms Wise had circulated the information requested.

·         Report of the Senior Archaeological Planning Officer

·         Report of the Emergency Recording Fund

·         Report on HER (Julia Wise)

Appendix A

Mr P Markham introduced the report highlighting:

·         that the Heritage Team had connected with over 1300 people through outreach work

·         the projects currently ongoing

·         that a part-time HTMLO had been appointed

·         that a lessons learned exercise from the Stocklake Road widening had been undertaken, and

·         that SLA discussions with HS2 were taking place.

Mr Markham expressed concern that funding secured in relation to HS2 may not be available to the team to back-fill for capacity taken up by the project.  The Chairman explained that from April 2017 when construction started, that there would be similar pressure on a number of teams within the Council.

Mr M Farley thanked the team for the work undertaken in Wing.

Appendix B

Mr Markham explained that there had been no new expenditure from the fund since the last meeting and that top-up funds had been pledged by all organisations bar AVDC.

ACTION: Ms M Breen-Haynes to progress within AVDC

Ms J Wise highlighted that the Roman casket burial found north of Whitchurch had been reported as good practice and reflected the good communication between officers, together with the importance of the Emergency Recording Fund.

ACTION: Ms Wise to investigate whether there are any outstanding issues relating to the find.

Appendix C

Ms Wise introduced the report.  Concerns were raised about the accessibility of maps on the County Council’s website.

ACTION: Ms Wise to seek resolution with ICT.

The issue of formatting of finds reports from officers was raised.  Ms Wise explained that contractors were not consistent in grid referencing, and that the team sometimes had alternative interpretations of findings given their local expertise.

ACTION: Ms Wise to ensure all briefs for contractors included the need for shapefiles.

Brett Thorn

Mr B Thorn updated the Forum on the Lenborough Hoard and made the following points:

·         the Hoard was a large hoard of Anglo Saxon coins found in late 2014

·         the Hoard had been declared treasure in November 2015, which meant that the Museum Trust had an opportunity to acquire

·         if successful, the Hoard would be displayed by Buckingham, Milton Keynes and Bucks County Museums (although wholly owned by the County Museum)

·         The full appeal would not be launched until the valuation had been agreed, but £13k had been pledged to date by local people

·         The Museum Trustees had agreed to a part-purchase should the full valuation not be raised

·         Should no purchase be possible, the landowner would be at liberty to sell the hoard to any interested party

·         The Mint of Norway (a private company) had expressed a wish to acquire the hoard

In response to the Committee’s questions, Mr Thorn confirmed that:

·         Only a UK accredited museum could purchase treasure

·         The Museum would have four months to raise the funds, which may be extended if funds were close to the purchase price

·         In response to the trend of unapproved metal detectoring on properties, Thames Valley Police had an effective heritage crimewatch officer but capacity was stretched

Gary Marshall, National Trust Archaeologist

Mr G Marshall provided a report from the National Trust which has been attached to the minutes.

Nick Crank, Milton Keynes Council

Ms Wise presented the report on behalf of Mr Crank who was unable to attend the meeting.

Members of the Committee were asked for their views on prioritisation of the long-list for possible designation by English Heritage, which were:

·         Pullingship Wood, Medmenham

·         Quarrendon I and II

·         Quarrendon III

·         Taplow Court

·         The Rye, High Wycombe

·         Manor Farm, Weston Turville, and

·         Common Wood, Penn

Ms Wise explained that a second tranche would be proposed in 2017.

In response to questions and discussion Ms Wise made the following points:

·         The existing schedule in relation to Quarrendon was out of date, which could cause difficulties at public inquiries

·         Future communications would be made clearer with the Quarrendon Trust

·         The Quarrendon site could be extended both to the north and south

·         Landowners were not given forward notice of potential designated sites

·         Sites which may be affected by HS2 would not be progressed until the HS2 Bill had been passed

·         That no sites were currently at threat from local development plans

·         Reflecting the interest on the site, Boarstall Decoy would be a priority for the 2017 applications

·         That the last site scheduled by English Heritage in Buckinghamshire was in 2012

·         That the WW1 trenches at Whiteleaf had not been included as there were better examples

AGREED: The Committee agreed the priorities for proposing to English Heritage as set out by Ms Wise

Ms Wise brought the Committee’s attention to the proposal for Ritchings Park to be placed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

Mr G Marshall provided a report from the National Trust.

The Chairman requested feedback on the content and format of meetings.

ACTION:  All members to consider current format and identify improvements for future.

The next meeting will take place on Monday 19/09/2016 at Mezzanine Room 1, New County Offices, Aylesbury.

Monday 19 September 2016 in Mezzanine Room 1, County Hall, Aylesbury