Aside from the title being an amazing name for an Echo and the Bunnymen cover band, (in my opinion anyway), most people interested in British Archaeology will by now be familiar with "Bunnygate".
It all began when Councillor (And Building contractor, oh and former Bricklayer) Alan Melton, gave a speech at the Fen Building awards a week ago.
In it he said that, as of July 1, developers would not be required to observe archaeological and heritage requirements of planning conditions. He also implied that he would 'look the other way' if these LAWS were violated, saying his planning committee were "on board" and that he did not want to be "bothered" with any issues. Then he uttered the words "The bunny huggers won't like it" and started spouting some nonsense about Polar Bears floating down the Nene (global warming will decrease the Polar Bear's habitat, not increase it, anyway!).
Now, Mr Melton seems to have gotten three groups of people mixed up - Ecologists, Archaeologists, (Skeleton Squeezers?)and Scientists (Bunsen botherers?). Archaeologists are actually not very fond of 'bunnies' at all - the dig through the underground archaeology and generally get in the way. Also, I'm not quite getting what global warming has to do with an archaeological site evaluation...
His claims, made apparently in order to save money on building developments, seem to be rooted in gripes stemming from personal experiences, shown in his telling comment that; “after the experiences I endured,[...] I shall be taking a keen interest!”. Presumably referencing his own troubles renovating Chatteris house, a Grade II listed building, into leaseable flats 2 years ago.
This proposal is against the law and is therefore not within Melton’s power, yet his worrying implications that he may ‘look the other way’ if these laws are violated, gives rise to fear that elsewhere, financial gains could be prioritised over the preservation of our national archaeological heritage, all in the name of the recession.
Bunny huggers comment aside though, what Mr Melton has done could actually work in favour for the current state of affairs in British Heritage. He has exposed his own ignorance, which is made all the more worrying when he is Lead councillor for the Fens council, an area that has produced some remarkable archaeological finds just in the past decade; discoveries include a Roman town at Stonea and the superbly preserved, 3000 year-old timber-platform settlement recently discovered in quarries at Must Farm, Whittlesey. In turn this has exposed the general fear that continued ignorance and lack of awareness will mean lasting damage to our unique British Heritage.
Just this month, Priddy Circles in Somerset was the victim of such damage: Part of one of the Neolithic ritual sites, thought to be contemporary with Stonehenge, was BULLDOZED flat! Then, to add insult to injury, re-seeded with grass and tree saplings. Even if the ring was 'restored' - Regardless of whether the perpetrators are punished, the original work, and archaelogical context is lost forever.
There have been numerous instances of Heritage crime in recent years, 
graffiti at Clifford’s tower, in York, and damage to a Roman site in Wiltshire from 4x4’s driving all over it. These sites, as well as Priddy circles, were supposed to be protected by the 1979 Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act, making any damage to such sites a criminal offence: But there cannot be people 'on watch' 24 hours a day at these monuments, and, sadly, some people think they can get away with acts of destruction such as this, and then plead ignorance later.
It is no wonder then, that the English Heritage has prompted the formation of ARCH (the Alliance to Reduce Crime against Heritage), with the aim of raising awareness and preventing these crimes.
40 Organisations have joined, and the aim is for local history groups and police forces to get involved in ‘looking out’ for areas of interest, as well as getting any crimes or suspicious behaviour reported more quickly.
With higher awareness; vandals (and uninformed councillors) will no longer be able to plead ignorance, and further damage to our unique British heritage could be prevented.
To some people these sites may be just a ‘pile of rocks’ – but surely if they can’t see the wonder in the development of man on the British Isles, from the 8,500 year old house found in North Yorkshire, to the Medieval graffiti of Norfolk churches, to the inventions of the industrial revolution, then surely that is their problem, not Britain’s?
Here are a couple of links about Heritage Crime:
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/news/643873/ http://www.archnews.co.uk/featured/5232-stamping-out-nighthawking-across-britain.html
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