In reply to Niall Grimes:
I'm not sure I agree with Mick's report on this, but he'll get upset if I say it's inaccurate, so I'll just tell you my view.
First and foremost I think it's important that BMC officers care about the sport, are enthusiasts, have opinions and aren't afraid to voice them.
I also think Martin's piece in climber is very useful - it adds a bit of flesh to the bare bones of the BMC news, makes the BMC a bit more human, a bit more accessible to the climber/hillwalker in the street etc. And as you say he's been doing it for some time, probably hasn't had much feedback and probably thinks each month "what the hell am I going to write about"
The big problem with the latest article is the comments about other bodies access reps have to deal with, which simply should not have appeared under a BMC banner, but I'm sure that's a mistake that won't be repeated.
The more difficult question is whether it's right for Martin to express more contentious ethical opinions under a BMC banner. My personal view is that all debate is healthy and there is no such thing as heresy - I diasagree with him over Millstone, but largely agree with him over neglected limestone crags. Maybe he could have been a bit more balanced, but there will always be some people offended by the very notion of placing a bolt and you can't please all the people all the time. Should it be under a BMC banner - why not ? Why shouldn't the BMC promote active discussion about ethics ?
But here we have the other problem - both of Martin's last two articles contained side-swipes at area meetings, or maybe just the peak area meeting and maybe one or two people in particular. So on the one hand he's saying "lets discuss this", and on the other he appears to be saying "don't bother going to a BMC area meeting to discuss it". Which didn't go down too well amongst the 25 or so people who had dragged themselves across bleak, foggy moors on a truly grim evening to do just that.
Anyway, I won't be too upset if only half a dozen people bother to turn up to the next one - looks like I have to chair it !