A group of local people met with archaeological contractors and DCC archaeologists on the fields at Straitgate Farm yesterday. AI and its consultants, SLR, were also present.
The archaeologists from DCC and the archaeological contractors spoke enthusiastically about a landscape that has been extensively occupied and farmed on and off over thousands of years. Signs from a number of prehistoric dwellings have been revealed, from the Iron Age to as far back, possibly, as the Neolithic period. Finds so far include pottery, post holes, drip gullies and enclosure boundaries. There is more archaeology than many had expected, and AI could eventually be called upon to excavate, survey and record much larger areas - if it were to ever secure planning permission.
Such evaluations would further add to AI’s running bill of costs. With so many constraints already identified, sand and gravel from Straitgate is unlikely ever to be won cheaply.
