In reply to Hammy: As you've noted I was present at the meeting, so I'll attempt to outline the situation here and give a bit of context.
These are not bolts intended for use as climbing/scrambling anchors or pro, but rather as an anchor point for the MRT at an accident black spot where the existing natural anchors are slowly degrading to the point of being dangerous and no other suitable natural anchors exist. (As a previous poster pointed out, the block currently used is becoming loose enough to be of questionable worth and the MRT are genuinely concerned about an accident happening with a couple of their guys on the rope with a casualty. The kind of work they do involves pretty large loads by all accounts with hauling and several people on the ropes).
The proposal from Roy at the MRT (and I stress that that is all it is at this stage - a proposal) is that two glue in bolts are placed on the other side of the ridge to provide a bomber anchor for the MRT to work from. These would be placed in such a way as that they would not be visible from the ridge itself and you would only know that they were there if you knew where to look.
From a purely personal point of view, I'm certainly no fan of bolts in the mountains. But in this case I can see that there is little other option, other than continuing to use the dodgy block and potentially having an even worse accident occur at a spot that unfortunately sees a lot of people slipping off the ridge and hurting themselves tumbling down the other side. It was agreed at the meeting that as this is bound to be a pretty contentious proposal that Roy would come along to the next Lakes Area Meeting to discuss the proposal and show the photos he has of the block/proposed bolt location which show the situation much better than I can explain here. That way climbers and hill walkers can form their own informed opinions and make them known to Roy.
For those that don't know what the Mountain Liaison Group is, it's formed of representatives from all the various recreational users of the Lakes and conservation bodies/large landowners such as the National Park Authority, Natural England, National Trust, United Utilities, RSPB etc. It meets twice a year to discuss any access or conservation issues that may have arisen in the Lakes and look at ways to approach them. It gives an opportunity for recreational users (such as climbers and hill walkers through the BMC) to have direct contact with the key players within the conservation bodies and landowners.
Hopefully that goes some way to explaining what the proposal is and Roy can explain further and field any questions/opinions at the next Area Meeting .
Cheers,
Rob Dyer
(BMC Access & Conservation Officer - English Regions)