How we support you through the planning process
Engaging a professional heritage services organisation early in a project’s life will help to ensure that the scheme’s requirements are managed smoothly and that costs are understood. With its long and varied experience, Oxford Archaeology will assist you at every step of the process to ensure a successful delivery of your project.
We provide site and buildings assessment services, on-site evaluation, excavation and monitoring for a wide range of project types and sizes. We are experienced in liaising with local planning authorities to ensure that programmes of work are proportionate for the size and nature of individual development projects.
As industry leaders, we ensure that our clients receive exceptional project management services which provide real-time tracking of objectives. And as a registered charity with a heritage and educational focus, we can also advise on how to maximise the public benefit of any heritage project, so that each development scheme can leave a legacy of positive social impact.
Heritage in the planning system
The UK is home to some of the world’s most important archaeological sites. Protecting our known and unknown heritage assets is essential to understanding our shared human story. The UK planning system requires that anyone applying to develop a site or alter a building must properly assess the potential that archaeological or heritage assets are present.
Where remains are likely to exist, applicants consult with the local planning authority to agree on how to address the heritage assets before development begins. Often a design solution can be agreed, whereby remains are preserved in situ and a management plan developed, but where remains will be disturbed or removed by development, an appropriate strategy of recording, analysis and reporting will be required. This will be stipulated by the local planning authority as a condition of planning permission.
