Suggested Wording for Official Community Plan Sections on Archaeology
 

The Archaeology Branch recommends that archaeological resource management be included in OCPs to help land owners and developers understand their responsibilities surrounding provincially protected archaeological sites.  Given the rapid pace of development in the province, protected archaeological sites are being accidentally damaged with increasing frequency.  This is usually due to a lack of knowledge about archaeological sites and the legislation that protects them.  By raising the profile of these sites within OCPs, we can alert people to archaeology at the earliest stages of development planning and avoid or reduce damage to archaeological sites in the future.  By managing site damage, we also avoid the potential for increased development costs and delays, negative press, and conflict within the community.

We recommend that the OCP contain a discrete section pertaining to archaeological resource management, or that archaeology be addressed in a distinct subsection within the Heritage section.  Suggested wording [36KB] for an OCP section on archaeology is available.