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People ask ‘What does Glass do?’ The only way to answer is perhaps write a piece about my week off work ‘on holiday’. I'm a Glass rep, the local face of Glass for South Yorkshire.
After reviewing a couple of posts on the Yorkshire Facebook group directly requesting help and posting a few replies etc. I decided a face to face meeting was required so arranged via messaging a meeting between myself, a Glass member and a farmer. Followed this up with a post on the Glass forum and elsewhere to investigate options. Found out the situation is not clear-cut and actually, legally, our options to help are pretty limited.
I also spoke on the telephone to a couple of people about local Byways, where they can go and passed on a couple of extra lanes to try.
Saw on Facebook further evidence of an off-piste situation on ‘my’ area and determined that it would make sense to visit this when we visit the farmer.
So, we went to visit the farmer, made a good connection and agreed a minimum course of action to help him out. His issue isn’t that he’s next to a Byway, it’s that a historical addition to the Byway (still legal and proper by the way) cuts over his water supply, spring-water from the hillsides, and can cause him issues as well as making it awkward with a turn around his barn as well as thefts and only occasional off-piste 4x4’s. We agreed some actions and I've already followed the first up with additions to Trailwise notes on 'his' lane.
Went to the second site, reviewed the land and off-piste areas, took pictures of the damage and wrote a mini write-up for Facebook to let people know we’re doing ‘something’.
Because of the timings (Friday night when I got back) I immediately sent off a couple of emails to Sheffield council and rights of way department, with reference to the two separate issues above.
Today, this week, I’ve tried a few times to telephone the council to see what might, or might not be happening, but still need to follow them up. Councils don’t usually work quickly.
It’s not a lot, and it’s not a lot to write about that’s blockbusting or even very interesting, so no-one other than those involved would normally hear about it, but that’s what reps do all the time. We all do it a bit differently and deal with different issues, but that’s the essence of what being a rep for Glass is about and it’s what being a member of and rep for Glass allows me to do.
Glass provides me with a huge, readily accessible backup and resource of knowledge and experience, such as where I’d have maybe done one thing, I’m now doing another, and doing it legally! Glass has the affiliations with Lara etc. to have some real clout within council offices, and especially amongst council (authority) officers that have actually ‘heard’ of Glass! We deal within a legal framework which means we have to stick to rules and work with councils and we can’t readily overlook this, much as personally I’d sometimes like to! Stuff takes time to accomplish, especially as a lot of the work is behind the scenes. The farmer, for instance, saw me for about 10 minutes. I’ve put maybe 6 hours work and 40 miles of driving to get a proper picture of his issue and work out a way to help us keep ‘his’ lane open but also to help him out at the same time.
To my way of thinking this is for the benefit of ALL Green Laners, not just the Glass or Calm or TRF or whoevers club members it’s for EVERYONE. Whether you join Glass or not I’ll still carry on doing this, so will other reps ‘cos we love our hobby. But if you want to help and contribute in a small way then join Glass http://www.glass-uk.org/index.php/join-us and help Glass provide that professional backup that myself and other reps need to work for YOU. Help us have the ability and resources to produce leaflets, posters, way-markers. To have the clout to speak and work with councils, police agencies and other authorities to collaborate to help maintain and to keep the lanes open. Support Glass ‘cos they support Green-laners and they support their reps, with support that might be as simple as providing us with business cards to pass on, or as complex as getting directly involved with maintenance of Byways, better/further training of the network of reps, or fighting in court!
That’s been one week of what I’ve done directly as Glass rep, some weeks are easier, some are harder, but we will keep going so everyone can keep driving the lanes.
After reviewing a couple of posts on the Yorkshire Facebook group directly requesting help and posting a few replies etc. I decided a face to face meeting was required so arranged via messaging a meeting between myself, a Glass member and a farmer. Followed this up with a post on the Glass forum and elsewhere to investigate options. Found out the situation is not clear-cut and actually, legally, our options to help are pretty limited.
I also spoke on the telephone to a couple of people about local Byways, where they can go and passed on a couple of extra lanes to try.
Saw on Facebook further evidence of an off-piste situation on ‘my’ area and determined that it would make sense to visit this when we visit the farmer.
So, we went to visit the farmer, made a good connection and agreed a minimum course of action to help him out. His issue isn’t that he’s next to a Byway, it’s that a historical addition to the Byway (still legal and proper by the way) cuts over his water supply, spring-water from the hillsides, and can cause him issues as well as making it awkward with a turn around his barn as well as thefts and only occasional off-piste 4x4’s. We agreed some actions and I've already followed the first up with additions to Trailwise notes on 'his' lane.
Went to the second site, reviewed the land and off-piste areas, took pictures of the damage and wrote a mini write-up for Facebook to let people know we’re doing ‘something’.
Because of the timings (Friday night when I got back) I immediately sent off a couple of emails to Sheffield council and rights of way department, with reference to the two separate issues above.
Today, this week, I’ve tried a few times to telephone the council to see what might, or might not be happening, but still need to follow them up. Councils don’t usually work quickly.
It’s not a lot, and it’s not a lot to write about that’s blockbusting or even very interesting, so no-one other than those involved would normally hear about it, but that’s what reps do all the time. We all do it a bit differently and deal with different issues, but that’s the essence of what being a rep for Glass is about and it’s what being a member of and rep for Glass allows me to do.
Glass provides me with a huge, readily accessible backup and resource of knowledge and experience, such as where I’d have maybe done one thing, I’m now doing another, and doing it legally! Glass has the affiliations with Lara etc. to have some real clout within council offices, and especially amongst council (authority) officers that have actually ‘heard’ of Glass! We deal within a legal framework which means we have to stick to rules and work with councils and we can’t readily overlook this, much as personally I’d sometimes like to! Stuff takes time to accomplish, especially as a lot of the work is behind the scenes. The farmer, for instance, saw me for about 10 minutes. I’ve put maybe 6 hours work and 40 miles of driving to get a proper picture of his issue and work out a way to help us keep ‘his’ lane open but also to help him out at the same time.
To my way of thinking this is for the benefit of ALL Green Laners, not just the Glass or Calm or TRF or whoevers club members it’s for EVERYONE. Whether you join Glass or not I’ll still carry on doing this, so will other reps ‘cos we love our hobby. But if you want to help and contribute in a small way then join Glass http://www.glass-uk.org/index.php/join-us and help Glass provide that professional backup that myself and other reps need to work for YOU. Help us have the ability and resources to produce leaflets, posters, way-markers. To have the clout to speak and work with councils, police agencies and other authorities to collaborate to help maintain and to keep the lanes open. Support Glass ‘cos they support Green-laners and they support their reps, with support that might be as simple as providing us with business cards to pass on, or as complex as getting directly involved with maintenance of Byways, better/further training of the network of reps, or fighting in court!
That’s been one week of what I’ve done directly as Glass rep, some weeks are easier, some are harder, but we will keep going so everyone can keep driving the lanes.
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