I am delighted to have an opportunity to make this statement to the committee. Members will be aware that I submitted a fairly extensive statement but they will be relieved to hear I do not intend to read through it in full. I will draw on the most cogent points.
Throughout this process the Heritage Council has maintained a strategic position concerning individual road schemes and other developments in accordance with our policy paper on the role of the Heritage Council in the planning process. This approach has been manifested by work with many organisations to increase the appreciation of heritage and its consideration in any development process. Members will be aware of the functions and role of the Heritage Council in that respect.
We have engaged with the National Roads Authority, NRA. We have taken a strong interest in the implications of the construction of road schemes for the national heritage. This interest has involved a range of submissions as well as dialogue with the National Roads Authority. In the context of our overall remit, in 2000 we made a detailed submission on the national development plan welcoming the overall strategic development process. However, we also highlighted areas where information deficits might well lead to delays. We suggested ways in which these could be resolved.
More specifically with regard to the committee's particular interest today, in 2001 we commissioned a heritage appraisal of road proposal constraints reports. We took a selection of existing constraints reports and appraised them regarding the way in which they dealt with heritage. It is an understatement to say the review found that the existing national road project management guidelines were in need of updating. Subsequent to this the council responded with comments and assistance on the compilation of the NRA draft guidelines on ecology and archaeology.
The Discovery Programme operates under the aegis and funding of the Heritage Council. Dr. Lacey articulately explained to the committee its involvement in the process. He pointed out that it has become a major holder of data and knowledge concerning Tara. The results of all of that research were presented to the oral hearing concerning the motorway scheme.
In terms of broadening the perception of the way in which heritage, both cultural and natural, is dealt with, the Heritage Council part-funds a body, the Woodlands of Ireland group. We have had detailed dialogue with the NRA about species planting on the fringes of new road developments, seeking to ensure that the ecological value of these woodlands and the contribution they make to our overall biodiversity can be enhanced. In short, to date the council has played a major role in shaping the manner in which heritage, natural and cultural, is considered at legislative, strategic and policy level.
Reference has been made to the issue of the archaeological landscape. I want to address that in a broad context. In 2002, council recommended that a national programme of landscape characterisation be undertaken. The process of landscape characterisation focuses on what makes one area different from the next or what makes a unique sense of place. Most importantly it relates landscape to people and local communities. This is done by analysing combinations of landscape elements and features to define the distinctive characteristic of a landscape. The major benefit of characterisation of this type is that it covers the whole landscape, not just special areas or areas to be assessed in advance of development. By this process, landscape and the benefits it brings to society as a whole can be placed in a much wider context, in the context of everyday life. In other words, it becomes understandable to everyone. Since its policy proposal to Government in 2002, the council has continued its work to secure implementation of these recommendations and has, in particular, carried out further work on historic landscape character. Such approaches to dealing effectively with development in the landscape have been accepted as international best practice for many years.
It is certainly the contention of Heritage Council that the landscape implications of the proposed M3, particularly its impact on the area between the hills of Tara and Skryne, could have been assessed in greater detail had this national process of landscape characterisation taken place when it was proposed. The ability of the landscape to absorb the change associated with the proposed motorway could therefore have been considered in the most informed manner.
A recurrent theme in the debate concerning the Hill of Tara and the proposed motorway is that of the "archaeological landscape". The Heritage Council concurs with the need to view archaeological sites in their wider landscape setting and has actively engaged with the practical issues of defining and managing archaeological landscapes. The council has initiated two research projects to assess the concept of the archaeological landscape, and specifically how such areas can be defined and managed. What has become clear from this work and the existing debate is that there is a growing need to accelerate this process and develop a clear, consistent methodology on a national basis to define an archaeological landscape. Some means of determining the boundaries of such landscapes is urgently required.
There is no doubting that this is an important archaeological and historical landscape, notwithstanding the significance of individual sites. To expand more fully on the point dealt with by Dr. Lacey, in the excavations to date on the trenchings, approximately 38 additional sites have been found. Ultimately, there is a lack of a national policy on historic landscapes and landscapes in general, as well as a lack of any means of determining core areas and potential buffer zones for such landscapes.
Should this motorway proceed, it is imperative that future strategic planning by Meath County Council has regard for the character of the landscape and any future development within it. Development pressure associated with motorways, such as warehouse storage, ribbon development along link roads, concern over commuter housing and, in respect of the M3, concern over the proposed Blundelstown interchange, would require particular consideration by the local authority. Full and final publication of these investigations should be a prominent feature of any project. Consideration should be given to the presentation of information to the public and to local schools. Such communicative measures should be a feature of all road schemes that have archaeological implications.
The Heritage Council fully acknowledges that heritage and, within this category, archaeology, are not the sole determining factors in routing road projects. Given that the responsibility of the council relates to the national heritage, the council recognises the sensitivity of any decision with regard to the road location. If the council were the body with decision-making powers on this issue, it is most unlikely that it would have chosen this new route. Having said that, the council acknowledges that any of the other routes would have implications for elements of the national heritage.
It is obvious that during the road design process, consideration was given to Tara and cultural heritage. However, given the international significance of Tara, it is a matter of debate whether sufficient weighting was placed upon heritage in the overall matrix of criteria used to inform the decision-making process. Had the Heritage Council sole responsibility in decision making it would have attached greater weight to heritage and less weight to some of the other considerations in the decision-making process.
It is very important to state that we are all working in a changing climate. Survey work in 2004 undertaken by Lansdowne Market Research on behalf of the Heritage Council has identified a distinct shift in the public attitude towards increased heritage protection and, surprisingly, in the awareness of its importance to all income groups in the four provinces. The survey can be benchmarked against a similar survey carried out in 1999. While we are all very aware of public opinion, this is a shift in public attitude that we would all do well to heed. We must concern ourselves with handing Tara on to future generations in a better condition than that in which we inherited it.