Sign this Petition to Stop Destruction Of British Archaeology.

Neighbourhood and Infrastructure Bill

Britain has some of the most amazing and diverse archaeological remains in the world, however the new Neighbourhood Planning and Infrastructure Bill announced today puts all of this at risk, leading to the destruction of our past for good. The lack of surveys will inherently lead to this. The current Requirements that force developers to carry out archaeological and wildlife surveys before starting housing projects are to be abolished in the new Neighbourhood Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

Please sign this petition

At 10,000 signatures, government will respond to this petition At 100,000 signatures, this petition will be considered for debate in Parliament

At present 6,785 signatures, twenty seven of them from metal detectorist 'partners'. Jonathan Lester who created the petition would have done well to include here the actual text of what it is we are signing under and a link to the text of the proposed legislation.

UPDATE 10th June 2016

Over on a metal detectorist's blog near you is a full expression  ('Bubba talks dinosaurs') of these people's interest in the "partnership" with archaeology represented by the Portable Antiquities Scheme. The proposed changes are described there as "an eminently sensible piece of planned UK legislation":

 the proposed Bill will seriously clip archaeology’s wings, this is indeed, excellent and exciting news. At last, here’s a potential victory on the horizon for those in the collecting/detecting/treasure hunting fraternities who have for years maintained that archaeologists have had their size twelves wedged in legislators’ and developer’s doors forcing them to subsidise archaeological surveys, excavations, and jobs. [...]  If this proposed Bill passes into law it will be the long-awaited good news signalling the end of what amounts to years of legalised mugging. After all, if archaeology ceased as of midnight tonight, what effect would it have on everyday life? NONE! Would that really matter? NO! 

After all, we still have the metal detectorists to "find old things", haven't we? And as they say, they find a lot of old things.