The Heritage Council
Statement by The Heritage Council on:
The M3 Motorway Proposals and the Hill of Tara
to Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government
2nd February 2005
HERITAGE COUNCIL:
THE M3 MOTORWAY PROPOSALS AND THE HILL OF TARA
LEINSTER HOUSE, DUBLIN, 2ND FEBRUARY 2005
Introduction
The Heritage Council is pleased with the opportunity to contribute to the Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government.
This statement details the functions of the Heritage Council, particular steps taken which have contributed to raising awareness of the significance of our national heritage vis a vis infrastructural developments and the position of the Heritage Council with regard to the M3 motorway proposals near Tara, Co Meath. At the outset it is important to acknowledge Tara as an element of Irish cultural identity which requires careful investigation and management for future generations. This significance is based upon a combination of the range of archaeological monuments, which span several periods, the association of kingship with the site, its place in historical sources and myth, as well as the setting in the landscape.
The Heritage Council
The Heritage Council was established in 1995, under the Heritage Act, to promote policies and priorities for the identification, protection, and enhancement of the national heritage. Under the Heritage Act, our national heritage includes archaeology, buildings, flora, fauna, wildlife, as well as landscapes and inland waterways. As such heritage is defined as both cultural and natural.
The Heritage Council: a strategic approach
The Heritage Council has maintained a strategic position concerning individual road schemes, and indeed other developments, in accordance with its Policy Paper of the Role of the Heritage Council in the Planning Process. This approach has been manifest by work with many organisations to increase the appreciation of heritage and its consideration in any development process. The Heritage Council has engaged with the National Roads Authority (NRA) and has taken a strong interest in the implications of road scheme construction for the national heritage. This interest has involved a range of submissions as well as dialogue with the National Roads Authority. In 2000 Council made a detailed submission on the National Development Plan, welcoming the overall strategic process and also highlighting areas where information deficits might lead to delays.
More specifically, in 2001 Council commissioned a Heritage Appraisal of Road Proposal Constraints Reports. This review found that the Irish National Road Project Management Guidelines were in need of updating. Subsequent to this Council has responded with comments and assistance to the compilation of NRA draft guidelines on ecology and archaeology. Recently Council suggested the need for revisions to the Archaeological Code of Practice between the NRA and the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
In addition, the Discovery Programme, which operates under the aegis and funding of the Heritage Council, has become a major holder of data and knowledge concerning Tara. The Discovery Programme has been engaged in a campaign of modern archaeological research on the Hill of Tara. This work, which included the publication of a detailed survey in 1997, has added considerably to our understanding of the chronology and form of the monuments on the Hill. In particular, this work has highlighted the importance of the surrounding landscape setting of the Hill of Tara. The Hill occupies an important position with a series of important archaeological monuments in its immediate hinterland. The results of this research were presented to the oral hearing concerning the motorway scheme.
In addition the Woodlands of Ireland, a body which is part-funded by the Heritage Council, has been engaged in dialogue with the NRA about species planting on the fringes of new road developments seeking to ensure that indigenous species are used, thus enhancing ecological values of new roadside plantations.
In short Council has played a major roll in shaping the manner in which heritage, natural and cultural is considered at a legislative, strategic and policy level.
Tara and the M3: the landscape issue
The Heritage Council recommended in 2002 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. 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 landscapes of an area can then be classified into units of common character, described and mapped. The elements and features analysed can include, topography, surface geology and soils, land cover, habitat types, historic landscape types, townlands, settlement communication and field patterns. The major benefit of landscape characterisation is that it covers the whole landscape, and not just special areas or areas to be assessed in advance of development. By this process the landscape benefits by being placed in its wider context and its role can be seen as part and parcel of everyday life.
Since its policy proposal to Government in 2002 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. The key to success relates to the amount of community and stakeholder involvement in the process. Draft guidelines prepared by the Department of Environment on landscape characterisation have been in circulation since 2000.
It is the contention of Council that the landscape implications of the proposed M3, in particular its impact on the area between the Hills of Tara and Skreen, could have been assessed in greater detail had this national process of landscape characterisation taken place and 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 an ‘archaeological landscape’. This is because part of the route chosen for the M3 in the Tara area, runs in the valley between the Hill of Tara to the west and Skreen to the east. The debate is currently focussed on the definition of the boundaries of the Tara archaeological landscape. The Co Meath Record of Monuments and Places, which is a series of maps showing known archaeological sites, identifies two foci, the Hill of Tara and the Hill of Skreen. Such an approach could be considered as a traditional approach based on individual sites. A second definition is one based on the archaeological and historical work carried out by the Discovery Programme in the 1990s. This approach has formed the basis for defining Tara as part of a wider landscape, with the area to the east of the Hill forming part of the Royal Demesne in the early medieval period.
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. 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, indeed, the existing debate, is that there is a growing need to develop a clear, consistent methodology on a national basis to define what an archaeological landscape is, but especially some means of determining the boundaries of such landscapes is also urgently required. Some progress has been made on this issue and a methodology has emerged under the direction of Council. It is Council’s intention to consult widely on its potential application in the near future.
But what of Tara and the M3 motorway? It is noteworthy that the routing for the proposed motorway is to the east of the existing N3, and that the route has been designed so as not to impact upon any known archaeological monuments. Following geophysical survey and archaeological test trenching on the route of the road some thirty eight archaeological sites have been detected. These sites were previously unknown and have come to light as a result of the pre-construction road survey. From examination of the results of the test trenching several of these sites are likely to be significant in terms of their complexity. There is no doubting that this is an important archaeological and historical landscape, notwithstanding the significance of individual sites. Ultimately there is a lack of a national policy on historic landscapes, as well as a lack of any means of determining core areas and potential buffer zones for such landscapes.
What if…
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. In particular, development pressure associated with motorways such as warehouse storage and ribbon development along link roads, or on the proposed Blundelstown interchange, would require particular consideration. It is also vital that the various statutory bodies (including the Heritage Council) meet their obligations under the Planning Acts regarding the management of change in such rich areas of national heritage.
In relation to the archaeological heritage in the Tara-Skreen valley it is vital that sufficient time and resources are allocated to any excavations that may be required. Notably, Meath County Council and the NRA have given assurances to this affect. However, given the setting and significance of the Tara-Skreen area with its rich prehistoric past and associations with kingship in the early medieval period, there is a need for a detailed research framework for any future investigations on the archaeological sites involved. Council is not aware that such a framework exists nor how it would be resourced. Additionally, 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 general public and to local schools. Such communicative measures should be a feature of all road schemes which have archaeological implications.
Conclusion
The Heritage Council fully acknowledges that heritage, and within this, archaeology, is not the sole determining factor in the routing of road projects. Given that the responsibility of the Council relates to the national heritage, Council recognises the sensitivity of any decision with regard to the road location. If Council were the body with decision making powers on this issue it is most unlikely that it would have chosen this new route. This is based on a wide appreciation of the historic landscape in the Tara-Skreen Valley and the important place of Tara in the construction of Irish identity. That said, Council acknowledges that any of the other routes, the route to the east of Skreen included, would also have implications for all elements of the national heritage, including archaeology.
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 if sufficient weighting was placed upon heritage in the matrix of criteria used to inform the decision making process. Survey work in 2004 undertaken by Landsdowne Market Research, on behalf of the Heritage Council, has identified a distinct shift in public attitude towards increased heritage protection and the levels of awareness of its importance to all income groups and nationwide. The survey can be benchmarked against a similar survey carried out in 1999. This is a shift in public attitudes we may all do well to heed and it may well be asked if we are handing Tara on to future generations in a better condition than we inherited it.
MICHAEL STARRETT
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
AN CHOMHAIRLE OIDHREACHTA
FEBRUARY 2005