graham
New member
I am very disappointed in BCA Council.
I gather that this referendum will be a vote for all BCA members (good) but it will not be an informed vote (bad).
I am told:
I am sorry but this is simply not the case. The pros and cons may well have been extensively been discussed by cavers but these discussions have not been (and it seems will not be) informed by any real hard detail of exactly what this might mean for our caves, especially those fragile caves that almost everybody agrees do need protection.
Prior to such a ballot the BCA should carry out an extensive consultation process with Natural England and other such bodies to discover exactly what measures would be available to protect our caves, how they might be implemented and how long these processes might take. They should have been consulting with affected landowners to gain some sort of view on how new exploration, such as digging, might be viewed by them; what might be possible and what would no longer be allowed (if anything). There should be answers to questions like if the rights granted under CRoW are extended, will those landowners who have voluntarily declared their land as access land then be able to rescind or limit that grant?
Without this hard information - not just the partially informed opinions of some cavers - this referendum will be a bit like asking the Scots if they wanted independence without giving important details like quite what currency their salaries and pensions would be paid in.
i.e. useless.
There is no point in posters to this Board going over and over the same ground yet again. We do not have sufficient information and it seems we are not going to get it.
I gather that this referendum will be a vote for all BCA members (good) but it will not be an informed vote (bad).
I am told:
The paperwork accompanying the referendum ballot will be minimal, since it will be assumed that all members of the BCA are aware of the potential benefits and possible drawbacks of including caving within the permitted activities under the CRoW act. The latest Descent contains a fairly good summary of these.
I am sorry but this is simply not the case. The pros and cons may well have been extensively been discussed by cavers but these discussions have not been (and it seems will not be) informed by any real hard detail of exactly what this might mean for our caves, especially those fragile caves that almost everybody agrees do need protection.
Prior to such a ballot the BCA should carry out an extensive consultation process with Natural England and other such bodies to discover exactly what measures would be available to protect our caves, how they might be implemented and how long these processes might take. They should have been consulting with affected landowners to gain some sort of view on how new exploration, such as digging, might be viewed by them; what might be possible and what would no longer be allowed (if anything). There should be answers to questions like if the rights granted under CRoW are extended, will those landowners who have voluntarily declared their land as access land then be able to rescind or limit that grant?
Without this hard information - not just the partially informed opinions of some cavers - this referendum will be a bit like asking the Scots if they wanted independence without giving important details like quite what currency their salaries and pensions would be paid in.
i.e. useless.
There is no point in posters to this Board going over and over the same ground yet again. We do not have sufficient information and it seems we are not going to get it.