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Observation 12:
Unfortunately I don’t have time to study the strategy document in fine detail but having a Word version makes electronic searches possible has made it possible for me to quickly produce the following observations.
  1. The words "walker" and "climber" appear once.
  2. "Safety" only appears within the context of road safety.
  3. I can find no evidence of organisation representing walkers or climbers amongst the partners shown in the document.
  4. Speaking as a hill walker the last thing I want to do at the end of a walk is wait any significant period of time (e.g. more than 10 minutes) for a bus. In wet and cold conditions that could occur any time of year a prompt partial change of clothing is very desirable and often essential once a walker stops walking. This factor is not mentioned at all with regard to provisioning of bus services.
  5. Even with the best of weather forecasts local conditions on the hills can mean a walker or climber can be delayed for some time. A car in a car park does not clock off at the end of a shift but bus drivers do. Walking along roads in the dark after missing the last bus would not just be unpleasant but dangerous. I can find nothing in the strategy document that indicates bus timetables would need to take delayed walkers safety into account.
  6. In winter conditions both walkers and climbers are likely to have equipment (ice axes, crampons etc.) with them that is not normally taken into account when outfitting buses. The bus requirements need include allowance for persons with large rucksacks on their backs with such equipment attached to the rucksacks getting on and off the buses. Bus seats etc. also need to be easy clean and dry not just clean as identified in section 5.9 of the strategy.

My conclusion from the strategy document is that the proposers of the strategy are ignorant of the what facilities walkers and climbers need.


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