protect heritage

Protection in the Coastal Zone - Heritage


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Heritage in the Coastal Zone

The community agreed the following objective for heritage in the coastal zone.

1. Objective:

To identify the unique and diverse natural and cultural heritage found within the coastal zone of Bantry Bay. To protect and conserve this heritage, explain its value, and promote enjoyment of it by both the local community and visitors.

The community identified the following challenges to achieving the objective.

2. Much of the heritage within the Bantry Bay coastal zone is still undiscovered or unrecorded and,
even what is known about, is mostly unprotected.

Access to sites is not always possible, especially where it is necessary to cross over private land.
When they consider whether or not to permit access to a site, landowners are concerned about the
need for public liability insurance. This may discourage them from permitting access over their land.

Several national bodies, including Dúchas (The Heritage Service), have national and local
responsibilities for heritage, but play only a small role locally in providing support for some aspects
of heritage preservation. Preserving and protecting heritage can involve considerable costs and it
can be difficult to obtain funding for these.

The full range of information presently produced on local heritage is not widely distributed and
available. There is much local heritage in the Bantry Bay coastal zone that nothing has yet been
written about.

There is not a wide enough knowledge amongst local people about their heritage. Many local people
and visitors to the area are not aware of the many different parts of our heritage; all those things that
make up what the present day society has inherited from the past. When people do not know the
value of the heritage that exists in the Bantry Bay coastal zone, they are not likely to actively support
its preservation.

3. Agreed Approach to Achieving the Objective:

The community agreed the following approach to achieving the objective.

3.a Good quality proposals for conservation and promotion of the heritage within the Bantry Bay coastal zone should be encouraged.

3.b Joint ventures between government bodies and local groups to preserve local heritage should be established. Local heritage is part of the national legacy of the past and its proper care should be adequately funded. State support should be provided for local initiatives to protect and manage heritage sites.

3.d Information on heritage within the Bantry Bay coastal zone should be collected together, so that it may be made widely available locally. Schools and local groups, as well as visitors to the area, should be encouraged to use this material. This information and appropriate materials may also be used by tourism activities. (IT 4.f)

3.e Fresh suggestions to improve education about local heritage in schools, for the local community, and visitors to the area, should be supported.

3.c Full use should be made of the knowledge and expertise within local groups and societies. This will improve the identification of heritage sites, awareness of, and information about them, and encourage education about local heritage.

3.f Local awareness of heritage sites and the ability to recognise these should be improved, especially where they may not already be known about (for example on farmland).

4. Agreed Actions:

Specifically, the community has agreed that the following actions should be carried out:

4.a Establish community-based and community-run heritage centre(s), where items can be exhibited and where information explaining the heritage of the local area can be displayed. Combine the promotion of these heritage centres as amenities for visitors to the Bantry Bay area, and as an educational resource for schools and the local community. (TRA 4.a/ 4.b)	4.d Investigate ways of providing public liability insurance for landowners where they have heritage sites on their land which the public wish to visit. -Where a landowner gives permission for public access to visit a heritage site, it is recognised that this is the case and that it is not the creation of a public right of way.
4.b Establish links with schools and produce educational material to encourage education about local heritage. -Organise and promote lectures and classes about the heritage of the Bantry Bay coastal zone, to be run locally and made available to both the local community and visitors. Make use of all the available expertise in the community and from other sources. (TRG 3.d)	4.e Put together a database of existing information on all local heritage. This should be regularly updated, with input from local bodies, and used to produce educational and information materials. Co-ordination is required between state and local authority databases which already exist. It will also be accessed through a Bantry Bay web-site that could be used for promoting the area and its attractions to visitors. (TRA 3.e/ 3.f/ TRA 4.a/ IT 4.f)
4.c Identify funding opportunities for protection and promotion of local heritage. Approach government agencies to clarify what their responsibilities for heritage are, and to negotiate potential arrangements with local groups for the preservation of heritage in the coastal zone. (EC 4.f/ S 3.d)	4.f Produce a list of all publications about local heritage that are currently available. This list, and the publications themselves, to be made widely available locally and on the internet. (TRA 3.e)
	4.g Set up a system linking local groups, historical societies, academics and others to carry out local research and find out more about the heritage of the Bantry Bay coastal zone. Investigate funding to support further publications about local heritage. (TRG 3.d)


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