Hi all - this has been sent out to all supporters of the campaign and on BMC comms, but we have been posting on here also and appreciated the back and forth on previous updates and wanted to maintain that consistency of communication.
Thoughts welcome and per the post feel free to reach out to us directly.
Sirhowy Update 2024 - as shared via Crowdfunder. Sirhowy
Dear supporters [this post was written to go out directly to crowdfunder supporters],
We’d like to thank all of you who have given your hard-earned money towards supporting our Sirhowy Crag Campaign. We raised £16,326 from individual supporters, and an additional £5195 from match-funding as well as support from staff members at Aviva who donated to our campaign. The feedback from Crowdfunder for the campaign has been incredibly positive, and our Campaigns and Policy Officer Eben Muse spoke to them about the campaign in this video.
We have communicated in the past about the offer that we made to the landowner and how that offer was rejected in favour of a bidding process in which we were unable to take part due to our status as a charity (the BMC’s Land and Property Trust) and the lack of information on potential liabilities in that process.
Now that the bidding process has passed, the holder of the winning bid is currently going through the administrative process of acquiring the land. We have reached out to them via the auction company and expect to hear back from them soon. We are not currently aware of their intention for the land, noting its unsuitability for major development and the opposition of the council who hold the surrounding land to any development not in keeping with the recreational nature of the site. We are aiming to use the resources at our disposal to negotiate with the landowner to safeguard access in the future. Many options are on the table, including leasehold, investing in crag improvements to reduce liability in return for guaranteed access, ring-fencing the funding for a like-for-like alternative, or even making an increased offer to the new landowner contingent on the same checks we offered the previous landowner. We remain steadfast in our view that climbers are the best people to own this special site, and that local climbers are those best equipped to manage and maintain it.
We understand that some of these aims fulfil only part of what we set out to do, and know this will not be what some of you have contributed towards. If you feel that you would like to have your donation refunded at any point over the next few months as we update you through this process, please reach out to us via eben.muse@thebmc.co.uk and tom.carrick@thebmc.co.uk and we will be more than happy to refund you – however, this was always going to be a marathon, not a sprint, and we hope you stick with us at least a little while longer. We will keep updating supporters and members as new developments arise.
In the meantime, if you wish to support the direct crag maintenance and acquisition work done by the BMC’s Land and Property Trust on an ongoing basis, we are working on ways to make donating easy for you in the future.
All the best, and thanks for your ongoing support and interest,
Eben and Tom (BMC Cymru Access Team).
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Welsh/Cymraeg:
Annwyl gefnogwyr,
Hoffem ddiolch i bob un ohonoch sydd wedi rhoi eich arian i gefnogi ein hymgyrch craig Sirhywi. Codwyd £16,326 gan gefnogwyr unigol, a £5195 ychwanegol drwy arian-gyfatebol (match-funding) yn ogystal â chefnogaeth gan aelodau staff yn Aviva a gyfrannodd at ein hymgyrch. Mae’r adborth gan Crowdfunder ar gyfer yr ymgyrch wedi bod yn hynod gadarnhaol, a siaradodd ein Swyddog Ymgyrchoedd a Pholisi Eben Muse â nhw am yr ymgyrch yn y fideo hwn.
Rydym wedi cyfathrebu yn y gorffennol am y cynnig a wnaethom i’r tirfeddiannwr a sut y gwrthodwyd y cynnig hwnnw o blaid proses fidio nad oeddem yn gallu cymryd rhan ynddi oherwydd ein statws fel elusen (Ymddiriedolaeth Tir ac Eiddo y BMC) a'r diffyg gwybodaeth am rwymedigaethau posibl yn y broses honno.
Nawr bod y broses fidio wedi gorffen, mae deiliad y cais buddugol ar hyn o bryd yn mynd drwy’r broses weinyddol o gaffael y tir. Rydym wedi estyn allan atynt drwy'r cwmni arwerthu ac yn disgwyl clywed yn ôl ganddynt yn fuan. Nid ydym yn ymwybodol ar hyn o bryd o'u bwriad ar gyfer y tir, gan nodi ei fod yn anaddas ar gyfer datblygiad mawr a gwrthwynebiad y cyngor sy'n dal y tir o amgylch i unrhyw ddatblygiad nad yw'n gydnaws â natur hamdden y safle. Ein nod yw defnyddio'r adnoddau sydd ar gael i ni i drafod gyda'r tirfeddiannwr i ddiogelu mynediad yn y dyfodol. Mae llawer o opsiynau ar gael i ni, gan gynnwys lesddaliad, buddsoddi mewn gwelliannau i glogwyni i leihau atebolrwydd yn gyfnewid am fynediad gwarantedig, clustnodi’r cyllid ar gyfer dewis arall tebyg at ei debyg, neu hyd yn oed wneud cynnig uwch i’r tirfeddiannwr newydd yn amodol ar yr un sieciau a gynigiwyd i'r tirfeddiannwr blaenorol. Rydym yn dal yn sicr yn ein barn mai dringwyr yw’r bobl orau i fod yn berchen ac i roi gofal ar y safle arbennig hwn, ac mai dringwyr lleol yw’r rhai sydd â’r adnoddau a’r wybodaeth orau i’w reoli a’i gynnal.
Rydym yn deall bod rhai o'r nodau hyn yn cyflawni rhan yn unig o'r hyn yr ydym wedi bwriadu ei wneud, a gwyddom nad dyma'r hyn y mae rhai ohonoch wedi cyfrannu ato. Os teimlwch yr hoffech i’ch rhodd gael ei had-dalu ar unrhyw adeg dros yr ychydig fisoedd nesaf wrth i ni eich diweddaru drwy’r broses hon, cysylltwch â ni drwy eben.muse@thebmc.co.uk a tom.carrick@thebmc. co.uk a byddwn yn fwy na pharod i'ch ad-dalu - fodd bynnag, marathon oedd yr ymgyrch yma bob amser yn mynd i fod, nid sbrint, a gobeithio y byddwch yn cadw gyda ni o leiaf ychydig yn hirach. Byddwn yn parhau i ddiweddaru cefnogwyr ac aelodau wrth i ddatblygiadau newydd godi.
Yn y cyfamser, os ydych yn dymuno cefnogi’r gwaith cynnal a chadw a chaffael clogwyn uniongyrchol a wneir gan Ymddiriedolaeth Tir ac Eiddo y BMC yn barhaus, rydym yn gweithio ar ffyrdd i’w gwneud hi’n hawdd i chi gyfrannu yn y dyfodol.
Pob lwc, a diolch am eich cefnogaeth a'ch diddordeb parhaus,
Eben a Tom (Tîm Mynediad BMC Cymru).
