The Sherford Consortium (TSC), a group of three developers working on the Sherford new Community site in Plymouth, have released a statement to confirm that a cave was discovered during excavation work. The statement outlines that the cave contains items of archaeological importance, and goes on to say that TSC is working with Devon County Council (DCC) to ensure that the discovery is handled correctly.
Please could you provide all material that DCC holds that relates to this discovery. This should include communications between DCC and TSC (or their contractors/representatives) relating to the discovery, any photographs/surveys/other records of the discovery, any plans or guidance for ongoing work that might impact on the discovery, and any assessments made as to the importance of the discovery.
Please refer to the Collated Correspondence document.
Points to note:
- Personal data has been withheld from disclosure under Environmental Information Regulation 13 (1).
- Some information, that may identify the location of the cave, has been withheld under Environmental Information Regulation 12(5)(a). Due to the large amount of public interest, releasing information that could identify the location of the cave presents a serious risk that members of the public could try to enter the cave. The case itself is a hazardous area, and many risk assessments have been done before experts and such have been able to enter.
- As this information dates from last year, some may now be out of date.
- The photographs within this disclosure are the copyright of AC Archaeology Ltd.