In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:
Rob, there's a lot to like about improving sport crags with shiny new bolts and improving the bolt positioning. That isn't the point.
The point is why pay a company to do it? I haven't heard a reasonable justification yet.
Landowner's Liability.
There's no connection between paying a rope access company to bolt and guaranteeing competency. And there is no guarantee of lack of competency by using volunteers. I'm well-qualified to comment, being as I manage a rope access company; and having re-equipped more than most (not Gary!), know thing or two about equipping sport routes/crags. There are plenty of local climbers fully competent to bolt routes - indeed one says he has offered his services to your peak area BMC and been ignored.
There's also a risk that the BMC here is setting a dangerous precedent in the eyes of the law by employing the 'professional services' of a rope access company to carry out equipping work. How about the BMC practicing what it quite rightly preaches - the message that climbers should be competent to look after themselves and the crags.
Time.
It might be a big job, in which case that makes it no different to the re-equipping of any other bolted crag. They're all 'big jobs'. This doesn't mean it has to be completed in a few weeks. Where's the deadline? Why the rush? If the routes are currently thought to be dangerous then in the eyes of the law the BMC is remiss in its duty of care to allow people to climb them and should remove the bolts immediately, full stop.
Obviously this hasn't happened, becasue Horseshoe isn't a death trap waiting to happen. As is normal with these projects what's wrong with doing a couple of routes at a time when volunteers feel like doing it? As far as I'm aware there isn't a burning deadline to meet. What's the rush to pay someone all about?
As I said earlier, this sends out all the wrong messages to voluntary route equippers. Why bother doing it voluntarily if the BMC are keen to commercialise it? The same attitude could easily be extended to other other crag improvement projects..
Post edited at 20:04