IT HAS been known for many years, that the ground underneath what was formerly the car park of the WPBC Offices on North Quay, Weymouth, was extremely fertile in archaeology.

And now that the said area is about to be redeveloped, very many concerned citizens of this borough and beyond, would like to see a full archaeological excavation on that ground, in much the same way as happens in neighbouring Dorchester, who have always embraced and used their own history to such great effect.

I for one, am not naive enough to think that I, nor anyone else can really influence the type of development that gets put up there, but ... as the Chief County Archaeologist for Dorset, Steve Wallis, so rightly says "This is the last chance to find out about Weymouth's origins and development as a town".

We urge those in power locally, to consider what would be lost, forever, merely for some short-term financial gain, if, no such excavation was to be written into the sale agreement.

Future generations of Weymouth folk, as well as this present one, will have been robbed of absolutely unique and priceless information as to how we got where we are today as a community.

Weymouth has such a rich history, which any town would love to own and to lose it all would be a travesty of monumental proportions.

The area in question, was of course until the late 1960s, the old Weymouth High Street, so callously torn down to the lament of tens of thousands here, and, sadly, we cannot bring it back.

But we can honour that past now, by ensuring that we find out about the many secrets of what lies beneath that ‘sacred earth’.

It has been said by more than a few, that many of the old High Street buildings were a lot older than thought.

Many of them dated back to the Medieval period, a fact born out in the several sets of stone steps which lead from the ruins of those buildings up to Chapelhay and which still exist today and have been dated to the 12th century.

But of course, Weymouth's history neither began nor ended with that century. There could be well over a thousand years more history beneath that layer and several hundred above it.

Please Councillor Cant ... Do not compound the mistakes and the infamy of a former WPBC by once again, showing no respect for Weymouth's past.

Look at the longer game and let's embrace our own history and heritage and use it to build a better and brighter future for the town which we all purport to love.

Give us the excavation which so many of us desire and let’s celebrate our rich and glorious past as it truly should be celebrated.

MARK VINE

Walpole Street, Weymouth