Notes from National Committee Meeting held on 21st January 2012

Ramblers Holidays

Independent of the Ramblers, but has donated profits to them (£7m so far), is now offering an arrangement to local (not national) walking clubs where the club registers with Ramblers Holidays and they then donate a sum (£10-£30) to the walking club for each holiday booked and registered by one of its club members, so the benefits could be significant. Any walking club can apply, so this is open to LDWA local groups and at least one has so far registered. Details are available on the Ramblers Holidays website. 

Access Working Group of Sport and Recreation Alliance

Tony Willey attends this group, next expected to meet in February. There is some evidence of a trend for mainly public bodies to now charge or seek substantial 'donations' for access for annual events - such as forestry bodies or wildlife trusts, though policies may be inconsistently applied even within one body. This may be inevitable with funding cuts, but it would be useful to log any examples, where LDWA events are affected, as any extra costs can be substantial in comparison to low entry fees and have to be passed on. Tony also comments there is a general attempt to require 'registration' of events, and therefore also permissions and fees, for example where events cross Access Land, even if no checkpoint is involved, and this goes back to the vague wording of the CROW Act.

It will be useful if such cases are flagged to John Batham and then he can log them with Tony

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