Text Box: Notes of interest to Members from recent CNCC Meeting: ● Work at Providence Pot by the White Rose continues, the entrance climbs can rapidly become impassable in wet weather. ● Decisive action to withdraw from the old Leck Fell access agreement has resulted in the new online booking arrangements being adopted. Here's hoping that this can be extended to the Casterton Estate before long. ● More relaxed arrangements for access to Excalibur Pot have been negotiated. ● The field on which Joint Hole is situated is under new ownership, negotiations for continued access are still in progress so tread carefully for now. ● Birkwith area, parking for cavers has now been arranged at Low Birkwith Farm. The owners of High Birkwith are now pursuing a course of action to try to get the track past high Birkwith farm unadopted as a right of way. This will obviously be a contentious area for some time to come. ● Barbondale - Shooting on Thursdays in Sept/Oct has been the cause of some conflict, particularly with some commercial groups. A bit of common sense and tolerance is advised. ● With Simon Wilson stepping down as Anchor Co-ordinator the role has now been divided with Mark Sims agreeing to temporarily fill the gap on the BCA Equipment and Techniques Committee and Alan Speight holding the stock of IC anchors and maintaining the anchor records. It is hoped that additional trainers can be approved by the BCA and the number of installers increased. Bearing in mind changes over the last couple of years, the CNCC Anchor policy has been rewritten and, barring a minor change of wording agreed at the meeting to clarify that urgent anchor replacements would not require committee approval, was adopted as written. ● Since Matt Ewles is now BCA Secretary he has co-opted Josh Young as an Assistant CNCC Secretary. Also The CNCC Treasurer, Pete Bann, will be standing down at the next AGM so there is an appeal for candidates to fill his boots. ● The Stories in Stone funding for surface conservation works in the Ingleborough area has been extended for another year - largely due to the recognition of the good value for money caver involvement represents. ● A donation of £100 agreed for access improvements at Nidd Head (Oliver Lloyd - CDG) ● The usual appeal has been made to book up the available Fairy Holes and Robinson Pot permits for the coming year. As of the meeting last week the 2nd November Fairy Holes permit was still available. ● The BCA proposal that a personal accident insurance policy be purchased on behalf of all BCA members (non optional) was discussed. Effectively this is being proposed in order to reduce the significant surplus of money being held by the BCA and sold as a universal benefit to all BCA members. The general mood of those present was that there would be much better ways of spending the money than giving it to an insurance company e.g. subsidising membership costs, better publications, better funding for regional councils, training, expedition funding etc. etc. Younger cavers would be the more likely beneficiaries of such a scheme, subsidised by older members who might have their own life insurance anyway. Also it would not take many claims for the insurance premium to be bumped up and become prohibitively expensive. IMPORTANT! In the coming weeks there will be poll of the BCA membership regarding far reaching changes that have been proposed to do with voting on BCA matters. The proposal is to abolish the two tier system whereby for a motion to pass a majority of both individual voting members (DIMs, CIMs etc.) and group representative voting members (Clubs, Regional bodies, special interest groups etc.) must be achieved. In its place a voting system where only individual members have a vote (one person - one vote) will be implemented. To pass, this proposal will require a 70% majority in both Individual, and Group, voting bodies so it is important to encourage everyone to carefully read the proposal and vote as they see fit. It is also important that our representative as a club (Secretary?) exercises a group vote representing the club and committee's view. ●Some of the issues surrounding the Dales explosives store were discussed, but it was agreed that the CNCC need not be involved financially or otherwise in setting up a new store. Next meeting 18th Jan 2020 09:30 in Hellifield. S. Lieberman  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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