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Perhaps it might have helped had The Coal Authority bothered to consult with NAMHO and not simply just ask for a fast tun around on the info Mike NAMHO Chair ----- Original Message ----- From: "Adam Green" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2003 2:23 PM Subject: The Coal Authority - Access to Britain's Mining Heritage > I'd like to respond to members' concerns on the subject of the Coal > Authority's scoping study 'Access to Britain's Mining Heritage'. > > May I begin by emphasizing that the Authority does *not* want to : > > (1) collect any records or change their ownership or custody, whether > the documents are in public or private hands > (2) duplicate or undermine any existing efforts by others > (3) publish any information about anyone's holdings without their > permission. > > The Authority *does* want to: > > (1) promote some form of general access point, using the internet, to > the widest possible range of source materials for the mining of coal (and > perhaps other minerals) across the United Kingdom. > (2) work in partnership with the widest possible range of players to > make this happen > > This is a big ambition that would take many years to achieve. Before > anything can happen the Authority needs to get a realistic idea of: > > (1) how much there is > (2) in how many places > (3) and how much is already available > > The scoping study is just that - an attempt to measure the challenge, > establish what has already been done, and come up with ideas on what to do > next. It is clear that any useful outcome will depend on working > co-operatively in voluntary partnership with a wide range of organisations > and individuals. > > To avoid misunderstanding, may I stress that: > > (1) the scoping survey is designed to produce a rough summary for > internal use to enable the Authority to discover how much is going on and > what still needs to be done. Nothing from the survey will be published in > any form without the express permission of the contributors. (In practice > published work is likely to come from subsequent developments.) > > (2) we appreciate that the deadline is very short. (We now have a short > extension until 11 April). We are however, looking for intelligent > estimates and not for final polished figures, and we hope that most > contributors can fairly easily give us some guesstimates of the quantities > involved. > > (3) we have not deliberately excluded anyone. We have been surprised > by the large range of potential partners and inevitably there will be some > we have not yet identified. If this survey process encourages others to > come forward so much the better. If the study does not include the full > number of possible partners it should be enough to get the overall > quantities roughly right. > > (4) there is no obligation on anyone to take part, and those who do > respond to the survey are under no obligation to take any further part in > any programme that follows. We hope most of you will, but further > developments will follow consultation with all potential partners on how > their interests and the Authority's vision of a non-exclusive single point > of access to mining information can work together. > > The Authority believes that it can make a helpful contribution to making > mining heritage information more widely and easily available, but fully > recognises that there may be some who choose not to take part. It will > fully respect any owner or custodian concerns on security and their consent > will always be needed for the release of information to the public. > > I believe that NAMHO members have a lot to gain as potential users of a > successful project of this kind; I also believe they have a lot to contribute. > > We are sure that there are many plans and activities that we have not yet > heard about, and we look forward to learning more through this preliminary > survey. If you feel you have something to offer but have not received a > questionnaire, do please let us know at [log in to unmask] If you > have concerns about any aspect of the project, please use the same address. > > > > Adam Green > Consultant, Access to Britain's Mining Heritage > [log in to unmask] > > > Adam Green > [log in to unmask] > >