| Author | Message | ||
     Geoff Atkins |
Thanks for that Mike. As a web developer I'm all for publishing things on line but sometimes there's nothing to beat the printed word. Geoff | ||
| Mike Watts |
I've been told that yesterday the BHDTA council agreed to purchase a reprint of the [current] rule book, to be available soon for those who want to purchase one. This is because current stocks are exhausted - no new rule changes! I urged that it be put on line - intending that to be as well as availability in print, not a replacement. Hope this is helpful, Mike | ||
| Guest |
Chris and I attended two days of training at Lowther Estate and in Penrith at the end of March. Needless to say we did so in our own time, at our own expense, and indeed we actually paid a fee for the second day of training which was organised by the BHDTA. This second day was for potential club level TD's and was very well presented by Philip Bateman and Ian Douglas. At this training day it was repeatedly and justifiably stressed that an up to date rule book was essential for every TD. As our rule book is somewhat out of date we ordered a new one from the BHDTA web site about a month ago. At the time of writing the web site continues to claim that the book is available for purchase at a price of £10.00 plus postage. On 7th June we received a voice mail from the BHDTA office to acknowledge our order and advise that Council had decided a few months ago to run stocks of the rule book down and make it available on the web site. We were advised that they do not have anything that can be sent to us. We were told that we should keep an eye on the website as Council might review the decision but that this was a very big might at the moment. The BHDTA is the authority for HDT rules for National and Club events in the UK. The rule book is a vital document for anyone participating in any way in the sport whether they be drivers, grooms, organisers, officials or interested helpers. I find it totally bizarre that the BHDTA wish to place the responsibility for creating hard copy of the rules onto the users of the document. Do Council have any idea of the time or cost involved in printing a 259 page document on the average home inkjet printer? Do they appreciate how long it would take to download such a document using a dial up modem - yes, there are still rural areas without the benefit of broadband and surely many drivers do live in rural areas. Council has a real responsibility to manage the sport in a manner which will allow participants to excel. Failures of the kind outlined above are not, in my view, in keeping with that responsibility. For the many people within the sport whom we have not had the pleasure of meeting my wife Chris and I have been more or less continuous supporters, helpers, officials and now sponsors of the sport since 1973 - whilst we do not, and never have, driven our keen interest in the welfare of the sport should be clear to all. Geoff Atkins - geoff.atkins@inchcruin.co.uk |