THE BOOK
Some of the ideas discussed in this blog are published in my new book called "The Stonehenge Bluestones" -- available by post and through good bookshops everywhere. Bad bookshops might not have it....
To order, click
HERE

Monday 2 May 2016

Is Rhosyfelin a designated RIGS site, or is it not?



This is a post from last December,  following confirmation from the Pembs Coast National Park and the new body called Geodiversity Wales that all the paperwork was now in place for Rhosyfelin, and that the designation was formally adopted.

http://brian-mountainman.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/rhosyfelin-rigs-designation-is-confirmed.html

But now it appears that the process is still not complete, and my colleague John Downes has had a couple of messages which lead us to believe that nobody in PCNPA headquarters is in any hurry.  First of all, there was a mix-up over the map, air photo and photographic record which somehow went astray, and once that was sorted out there was a further message saying that "a formal consultation by the Authority on the proposal is needed before an update to the supplementary planning guidance is formally approved."   The NPA plans to group the consultation on this (RIGs) supplementary planning guidance update with other supplementary planning guidance documents that need updating rather than carrying out two separate consultations.  Apparently "the second guidance document is a complex joint one we are preparing with Pembrokeshire County Council.  My best guess would be an approval for consultation in September October 2016..........."

Note the wording.  "An approval for consultation" -- not an approval of the designation. I am not sure whether this process is in tune with either the letter or the spirit of the law.  I doubt it.

The delicate art of procrastination.   How shall we put this?  From the beginning, there has been a certain lack of enthusiasm for this designation from the National Park, since some individual staff members had already gone on the record to extol the virtues of Rhosyfelin as a key Neolithic quarrying site, and to flag up the importance of Pembrokeshire in UK archaeology.  As I have said before, to hell with the truth -- the PR value of the Rhosyfelin "bluestone quarry" is far too great for the PCNPA to let go of it.

1 comment:

Dave Maynard said...

Out of interest, do you know what the second, larger supplementary guidance is about?