David Rose
Active member
My sister, Dinah Rose QC, a leading public law expert, has now written her formal, legal opinion on whether cavers should have free access to caves on CROW land and concluded that we do. In her view, Parliament cannot have intended to exempt caving from the CROW Act's provisions, there is no public policy reason why caves should be excluded, and it would be "irrational" - a word with a very strong legal meaning - to argue that they are.
This is evidently a development of enormous significance to the ongoing debate. Chris Howes has kindly agreed to make the whole opinion available on the news section of the Descent website shortly, and I will post the link when he does.
I know some will find this controversial. I urge people to read it fully and to consider it with the same care with which it has been drafted before they begin to post their own views here. My own position is simple: that cavers, if possible working through the BCA, which will be discussing the issue next month, should now take every possible step to make sure our CROW Act access rights are respected and enforced. I believe this represents a liberation from onerous, unnecessary and unlawful restrictions.
Meanwhile, I hope others reading this will join me in thanking Dinah for mastering a large amount of material, and producing an opinion of great force and clarity without charge. Thanks are also due to Tim Allen and Bob Mehew, who spent many hours collating hundreds of pages of documents to enable her to do her work.
This is evidently a development of enormous significance to the ongoing debate. Chris Howes has kindly agreed to make the whole opinion available on the news section of the Descent website shortly, and I will post the link when he does.
I know some will find this controversial. I urge people to read it fully and to consider it with the same care with which it has been drafted before they begin to post their own views here. My own position is simple: that cavers, if possible working through the BCA, which will be discussing the issue next month, should now take every possible step to make sure our CROW Act access rights are respected and enforced. I believe this represents a liberation from onerous, unnecessary and unlawful restrictions.
Meanwhile, I hope others reading this will join me in thanking Dinah for mastering a large amount of material, and producing an opinion of great force and clarity without charge. Thanks are also due to Tim Allen and Bob Mehew, who spent many hours collating hundreds of pages of documents to enable her to do her work.