In Folkstone the district council has banned metal detecting on council land with immediate effect (Antony Thrower, '
Banning order limits treasure hunters as the council digs in', Folkestone Herald September 18, 2014). Recent events had
highlighted the need to have an official council position when discussing the matter with officials from these organisations and the member of the public concerned. Metal detecting on SDC owned and tenanted land (including land to which the public has a right of access) is not permitted. Any previous agreements concerning metal detecting that may have been made between the council and its tenants will also cease to have effect. Any proposal to undertake metal detecting on SDC land will only be considered where detecting is part of an appropriate programme of research.
2 comments:
I suspect their legal dept has twigged they might be held liable if someone takes home explosives. It's been well demonstrated there is a finite number of detectorists stupid enough to do that.
Local authorities tend to follow each other in such decisions as if one does it it makes the others more liable as a result of not having done it - so it'll be interesting to see what happens.
If detectorists were a normal group they could sign a code assuring the authorities they'd behave but I'm not sure that will work for people who flout other codes so widely.
For the avoidance of doubt.... "will only be considered where detecting is part of an appropriate programme of research"
is certainly a sensible rule with which I agree but I suspect that it comes less from a concern for archaeology and more from a perception that amateur archaeologists are less likely to take a grenade into a residential area. I agree with that too. The evidence is compelling.
Post a Comment