PLANS for a new ‘Roman Quarter’ in York have been described as “fundamentally flawed” and “unethical” by the Council for British Archaeology (CBA).

The Rougier Street plans would see a new Roman museum called Eboracum built, along with an 88-room aparthotel, 153 new apartments and new office space.

But in a letter of objection to City of York Council,  the CBA said the revised application was using the heritage visitor attraction “as leverage to overdevelop the site as a whole”.

The original plans were thrown out by a council planning committee last year and the scheme has been redesigned to take account of councillors’ comments.

York Press: The redesigned Roman Quarter development would greatly improve the appearance of Rougier Street, the developers have said

The project is a partnership between joint applicants Rougier Street Developments, owners of the site, and York Archaeological Trust, and would involve a two-year archaeological dig.

The underground museum would be twice the size of Jorvik, but the CBA said Jorvik was only created as a result of the quality of deposits found during the Coppergate dig, which lasted from 1976-81.

“It was not a preconceived goal at the outset,” wrote the CBA’s Catherine Bell. “Without the visitor attraction would this 10-story building be considered a positive new feature for York?”

Calling for a “more robust archaeological strategy”, the CBA also said it was “completely unknown” if the proposed excavation would produce suitable finds to warrant a new attraction.

“This application seeks to disregard the City of York’s established politics with regard to archaeology,” Ms Bell wrote.

“We fail to see how adequate funding will be made available to secure the proper excavation, post-excavation research, reporting and conservation of the finds.

“The promise of a Roman visitor attraction should not be used to mask these fundamental flaws in the proposal.” 

Objecting in “the strongest possible terms” to the plans, the CBA said the “rationale, methodology and policy consideration” of the scheme was “fundamentally flawed”.

The CBA is a charity, established in the wake of the Second World War, which “promotes engagement with and understanding of the country’s archaeology within the context of rebuilding Britain”.

York Press:

Historic England has also objected to the Roman Quarter development, saying it would damage York city centre.

In a letter to the council, Historic England wrote: “The complete excavation of one third of the site would cause a high degree of harm to the archaeology.

“We consider the rationale for this to be confused and contradictory.”

The organisation is also concerned about the “proposed wholesale removal of the archaeology across a third of the site” for the new museum.

The letter said: “If, as claimed, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, the whole site should be evaluated to identify the area with the greatest archaeological potential, enable the full impact of the development to be understood and appropriate mitigation formulated.”

The developers have said the project  would be “a major economic boost for York”, generating £315 million for the local economy over 30 years, as well as 625 new jobs.

A decision on the plans is expected in the coming months.