Kilnsey Crag sale - BMC position on purchasing land and crags
The recent advertisement offering Kilnsey Crag for sale at a price of £150k presents an opportunity to remind members about how the BMC approaches potential land acquisitions. We're also on the lookout for specialist volunteers to support our land management work.
As a reminder – the BMC already owns eight sites across England and Wales: Harrison’s Rocks, Stone Farm Rocks, Crookrise, Craig y Longridge, Wilton 1, Horseshoe Quarry, Aldery Cliff and Craig Bwlch y Moch (Tremadog) – most of which have been given to us for token sums over the years.
The day-to-day management of our land holdings has always been the responsibility of the Access & Conservation Team and last year a dedicated Property Manager (Phill Hargreaves) was appointed to enable us to take a more proactive approach to managing our sites.
This work is overseen by a group of specialist volunteers - the BMC Land Management Group – which is chaired by Tim Daniells and includes legal professionals, geotechnical engineers and conservation specialists; the properties themselves are held in two legal entities – the BMC Land & Property Trust and BMC Land Holdings Limited.
Land acquisition is a last resort option for the BMC and is only considered if:
- The site nationally or regionally significant for climbing, it is particularly popular or there are few alternative venues in the vicinity.
- It has strong support from the relevant BMC Area and a pool of local volunteers willing to assist with ongoing maintenance and management.
Responsibility for agreeing new acquisitions sits with the BMC Board of Directors in consultation with the Members Council. The role of the Land Management Group is to assess the pros & cons of potential acquisitions and make recommendations to the Board. This includes consideration of:
- The cost of acquisition and on-going management.
- The risk of losing access in the future.
- Management implications (staff and volunteer time).
- Environmental factors, including long term erosion issues.
- Liability risks (contaminated or unstable land) and management issues (trespass, vandalism, nuisance, fixed equipment, fencing or tree safety works).
- The possibility that current access issues might be resolved in the foreseeable future.
Land ownership is a significant responsibility for the BMC and is not taken lightly; the case of Kilnsey Crag is under active consideration at the moment.
We are currently on the lookout for several new members to join our Land Management Group so if you feel you have something to offer in terms of your background and/or knowledge of our holdings – do please get in touch by sending an expression of interest letter and summary of your experience (CV if available) to dave@thebmc.co.uk by 14 July 2023 (please also feel free to drop me a line if you'd like to arrange an informal conversation in advance of applying). Online interviews will be held in late July.
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