PPS 6 Planning Archaeology and the Built Heritage·Page 18·3.12
Pre-application archaeological investigation
Developers should establish whether a site contains or is likely to contain archaeological remains before submitting a planning application. The Northern Ireland Monuments and Buildings Record should be consulted, and informal discussions with the Department are encouraged to understand site archaeological sensitivity.
It is therefore in the developers own interests to establish whether a site is known or likely to contain archaeological remains as part of their assessment of its development potential prior to submitting a planning application. The first step will be to consult the Northern Ireland Monuments and Buildings Record which contains database information on all known archaeological sites and monuments and which is maintained by the Environment and Heritage Service. Informal discussions at this time will help to provide prospective developers with advance warning of the archaeological sensitivity of a site. Development plans may also afford some assistance to prospective developers (see paras 2.5 - 2.7).
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