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In England, parks and gardens are an acknowledged part of the historic environment, for which the principal protection mechanism is the planning system. Since 2010, that protection has relied primarily on the application of a policy predicated on the identification and conservation of a historic asset’s ‘significance’, or special interest. This research evaluates the concept of significance as a basis for protecting historic parks and gardens in England, and assesses the effectiveness of the planning system in sustaining that significance. It adopts a case study approach to investigate the handling of a planning application for a development proposal in each of three registered parks and gardens, involving site assessments, documentary review, and semi-structured interviews. This is supplemented by a nationwide questionnaire survey of local planning authorities, interviews with high-level stakeholders, and analysis of relevant policy and legislation. The research finds that significance-based policy is not well understood, and that its potential is unfulfilled in practice. Parks and gardens themselves are found to be relatively neglected as heritage assets in both conservation and research. The research concludes that the planning system could be effective in sustaining the significance of historic parks and gardens, but currently is not. The contributions to knowledge made by the research include the review of planning practice in respect of parks and gardens (the first since 1992), the development of a typology of interests to inform the definition of significance, and a model to guide the process of definition. A further contribution – with the potential for wider application – is a theoretical model of the influences on the construction of significance in the decision-making process on planning applications. Recommendations arising from the research include a call for improved use of existing protection mechanisms, and for the production of guidance for practiti

© 2015 Australian College of Midwives. Background: There is a growing body of evidence to show that the birth environment can influence women's experiences of labour and birth as well as midwifery practice. A common feature of the modern birth space is the bed. Knowledge about how the use of the bed shapes clinicians' perceptions and attitudes is limited. Aim: The aim of this paper is to describe midwives' perceptions of the birth bed. Method: Qualitative descriptive design. Fourteen midwives from one Queensland maternity unit participated in digitally recorded and transcribed interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data set. Findings: Four themes were identified. The first, described beliefs that using the bed formed part of women's childbirth expectations. A second theme, captured midwives' perceptions that the bed was also an object required to safely undertake their work. The third theme described how others commonly worked to ensure the woman stayed off the bed. Lastly, there was evidence that whilst wanting to avoid the use of the bed, some were reluctant, fearing potential reprimand. Conclusion: The themes highlight differences in how the midwives conceptualised the use of a bed within a birth space. While some avoided the use of the bed altogether others would only conceive of women moving off the bed if everything was 'normal'. How the bed was culturally constructed appeared to dictate clinical practice. Reflecting on the meaning of an object, such as the bed, is important if clinicians are to fully understand how the birth environment influences their practice and thus women's experiences of labour and birth.

Commensal plants and animals have long been used to track human migrations, with Rattus exulans (the Pacific rat) a common organism for reconstructing Polynesian dispersal in the Pacific. However, with no knowledge of the homeland of R. exulans, the place of origin of this human-commensal relationship is unknown. We conducted a mitochondrial DNA phylogeographic survey of R. exulans diversity across the potential natural range in mainland and Island Southeast Asia in order to establish the origin of this human-commensal dyad. We also conducted allozyme electrophoresis on samples from ISEA to obtain a perspective on patterns of genetic diversity in this critical region. Finally, we compared molecular genetic evidence with knowledge of prehistoric rodent faunas in mainland and ISEA. We find that ISEA populations of R. exulans contain the highest mtDNA lineage diversity including significant haplotype diversity not represented elsewhere in the species range. Within ISEA, the island of Flores in the Lesser Sunda group contains the highest diversity in ISEA (across all loci) and also has a deep fossil record of small mammals that appears to include R. exulans. Therefore, in addition to Flores harboring unusual diversity in the form of Homo floresiensis, dwarfed stegodons and giant rats, this island appears to be the homeland of R. exulans.