In response to Oliver Lewis’s ill-judged observations on Powys Planning Authority’s planning procedure, (“Planning Woes”, County Times, Nov 18), could I briefly set out the following points.
Firstly, the site of the 1644 battle of Montgomery is far from “ lost in the mists of time”, as he maintains. It was discovered in 1994 by two enterprising young archaeologists, working unfunded in their own time.
As an authority on the battle, I acted as an on site adviser. A subsequent written report, (CPAT Report No. 142 ), was kept out of the public domain to protect the site and deter unauthorised metal detecting, as the site had not been exhaustively examined.
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The two main fighting areas remain totally devoid of housing development, while the less important tract of land from New Road stretching back to the line of the rebuilt Town Wall, where the Royalist army initially formed up and later fled, is entirely covered by housing and a factory unit, mostly pre-dating the 1994 discovery.
Hopefully, at long last, a recently projected professionally supervised full site survey will soon take place
Could I further add that the new development site has now undergone three detector surveys in the last 25 years turning up the usual detritus of 17th Century warfare.
The claims that items of “national significance” have been discovered are the result of an over enthusiastic communication to Montgomery Council by someone keen to return and take part in a major search project.
Criticism of Powys Planning Authority is, in this case, unwarranted. Oliver Lewis has acted like a loose cannon – the last thing that is needed on a battlefield.
Finally, Mr Lewis’s nonsensical claim that the battle “secured the Principality for Parliament”, exhibits a rather loose grasp of Welsh history.
As he titles himself “chairman and founder of Montgomery Heritage Trust”, could I suggest he transfer his energies to the debate around onshore wind – a topic for which he seems eminently suited.
David E. Evans
Montgomery
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