grufty jim
|
Re: How can Blencathra be for sale?
May 09, 2014, 11:06
|
I know it would be cynical, but they should find some billionaire looking for a bit of good publicity (I'm looking specifically at you, Donald Trump) and get him to buy the mountain and donate it to the nation. He could spin the PR so that it counteracted some of the shit he's been getting for his golf courses ("See! I can preserve the landscape as well as develop it!") and let's face it, the purchase would be pocket-change for him.
And no, I'm not saying someone like Donald Trump should be forgiven his many sins, but why not exploit those sins for the greater good?
|
moss
|
Re: How can Blencathra be for sale?
May 09, 2014, 11:17
|
|
grufty jim wrote: I know it would be cynical, but they should find some billionaire looking for a bit of good publicity (I'm looking specifically at you, Donald Trump) and get him to buy the mountain and donate it to the nation. He could spin the PR so that it counteracted some of the shit he's been getting for his golf courses ("See! I can preserve the landscape as well as develop it!") and let's face it, the purchase would be pocket-change for him.
And no, I'm not saying someone like Donald Trump should be forgiven his many sins, but why not exploit those sins for the greater good?
Well to acknowledge Harestonedown's point, access will still be the same whoever owns it, this news bite gives both sides of the argument...
https://www.thebmc.co.uk/should-we-buy-blencathra
"The mountain is designated as Open Access land under the Countryside and Rights of Way (CRoW) Act, meaning recreational users can roam where they like (subject to certain conditions).
Various levels of environmental protection also apply to Blencathra by virtue of it falling within a national park and being part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), so any potential development on the mountain would face very stiff legal obstacles."
Donald Trump is an idiot, hopefully he has gone away, his brain can't cope with our legal minefields, except by bluster and bullying...
|
grufty jim
|
Re: How can Blencathra be for sale?
May 09, 2014, 11:22
|
|
moss wrote: Donald Trump is an idiot, hopefully he has gone away, his brain can't cope with our legal minefields, except by bluster and bullying...
I agree 100%. I'm not suggesting anything other than exploiting his need for validation and his huge wealth to maybe get something good achieved... given that - sadly - he has *not* gone away and is busy buying golf-courses all over the UK and Ireland.
|
tjj
|
Re: How can Blencathra be for sale?
May 09, 2014, 14:16
|
I don't think anyone would want Donald Trump near anywhere held sacred in our lovely British Isles. You have to wonder if the Earl of Lonsdale is not having his own private 'wind-up' - and he only mentioned rich Russians or Chinese as possible purchasers. I am sure he was hoping that the general public (i.e.us) would be stirred into action and start a campaign, so I guess on reflection we are playing into his hands. I question how these so called 'upper classes' have come to own vast tracts of our countryside. The truth is the mountain is not his to sell and whilst I can become fired up at the thought of a wealthy American/Russian/Chinese whatever putting in a bid its not going to happen is it - because the Blencathra fell cannot be exploited except by the Earl of Lonsdale in trying to sell it back to the country who own it anyway - if its part of the National Park.
To quote the Earl of Lonsdale “Once the death duties are gone, I can have a better way of life, I can go and buy myself a super yacht in the south of France or a house in the Bahamas. Why not?”
This morning I was wondering how to go about making my small donation of a tenner having seen some well meaning campaigners on the news. How someone gets a bill for £9 million in inheritance tax is beyond my comprehension - is it not beyond the realms of possibility to broker some sort of deal and let the man sail away in a rubber dinghy.
|
grufty jim
|
Re: How can Blencathra be for sale?
May 09, 2014, 14:33
|
My point was not that Donald Trump should *own* it, but that he should buy it and donate it to the National Trust as a counterbalance. For every golf course he buys, he has to purchase two mountains and donate them to the state.... something like that.
And I was only being half-serious (if that).
|
nigelswift
|
Re: How can Blencathra be for sale?
May 09, 2014, 17:36
|
Not sure that "the nation" or the National Trust wants to be lumbered with any expense that might come with owning it. Also, can it come to any harm whoever owns it?
Apparently the locals are talking of holding a raffle with the winner taking over the Lordship (or Ladyship) if the community buys it. I think I'll have a bit of that. I could post here as Lord Blencathra...
|
harestonesdown
|
Re: How can Blencathra be for sale?
May 10, 2014, 00:41
|
|
nigelswift wrote: I could post here as Lord Blencathra...
You'll always be "That argumentative c*nt" to us Nige. ;)
I do agree though, buying it doesn't mean you can do what the f*ck you want with it, and the 2m can go towards a tunnel for the A303. Maybe. :D
|
tjj
|
Re: How can Blencathra be for sale?
May 12, 2014, 20:53
|
|
nigelswift wrote: Not sure that "the nation" or the National Trust wants to be lumbered with any expense that might come with owning it. Also, can it come to any harm whoever owns it?
Apparently the locals are talking of holding a raffle with the winner taking over the Lordship (or Ladyship) if the community buys it. I think I'll have a bit of that. I could post here as Lord Blencathra...
Why not Nigel! Julian Cope called himself Lord Yatesbury for many years (though I think it was a phase).
I bumped into a Rambler friend this morning and was reminded of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act which came into force in 2005. In effect it operated as a compulsory purchase order causing many landowners to lose out on income from grouse shooting.
http://www.naturalengland.gov.uk/ourwork/access/openaccess/default.aspx
|
nigelswift
|
Re: How can Blencathra be for sale?
May 13, 2014, 06:23
|
|
It's a shame Lord Avebury's taken but if I have to be a lord, like if they force it on me, I'd probably choose a place near where I came from in Shropshire and be Lord Muckley Cross.
|
thesweetcheat
|
Re: How can Blencathra be for sale?
May 13, 2014, 07:05
|
|
nigelswif wrote: ... I'd probably choose a place near where I came from in Shropshire and be Lord Muckley Cross.
Most appropriate :)
|
