Seeking permission

[+Crid]

Having geocached for about nine months, I would like to place some caches myself. However, the bit that always puts me off is seeking permission to place the cache. I understand the reasons for it, but I'm unsure how to go about doing it. Does anybody have any UK-specific advice about how to choose a good location (from a permission perspective), how to find out who the owner is, etc? Are there different situations depending on the location (for instance, beside a country lane but not in a field, open access land, etc)?

 

I've found advice about seeking permission for caches on Forestry Commission land (and there's a FC forest not far from me that doesn't have any caches in it), but I haven't had so much luck finding UK-specific information for placing caches elsewhere.

 

I'm in Kent, if that makes any difference (given that different councils can have different rules).

[+Delta68]

Whispers spread across the back of the hushed room: "He said the 'P' word..."

 

In the Harry Potter books, no-one mentions Lord Voldermort by name...

 

 

 

 

I'll start by saying you don't need permission to place a cache in your own front garden

[+HazelS]

Maybe not, but you SHOULD get permission for placing caches...

 

In some areas there are blanket agreements to place caches on council owned land, but you will have to be careful with this one, that your council DOES do this, and IS aware of your cache etc.

 

Here in Cheshire we have a blanket agreement, but the rangers etc need to know where caches are.

 

I am lucky, I work in Local Government and have persmission to place caches in certain areas because of the contacts I have here.

[+Bill D (wwh)]

GAGB have a list of blanket agreements (and a few banned areas) here - if you're lucky you may find that one or more of the areas with blanket permission is near you. Otherwise it's a bit tedious... To the best of my knowledge there's no easy way of finding out who owns a particular parcel of land. Obviously look for any signs at entrances or car parks, and try asking walkers in the area. Try asking at the local post office/pub/shop, and perhaps at nearby farmhouses or other isolated properties. And be prepared for a few funny looks...

 

Good luck...!

[+Happy Humphrey]

A key point is that you must have "adequate" permission for a cache. What is "adequate" varies enormously, and without us knowing the exact location and type of cache in question, it's hard to give anything but general advice.

 

At one end of the scale, trying to find out who "owns" a spot where you're thinking of placing a nano cache within reach of a litter-strewn footpath at the back of a car park is going to be a futile exercise. If you actually identify the landowner, you'll probably simply annoy him by proposing some sort of formal permission scheme. At the other end, there are areas where placing a cache without written consent from several officials, on headed paper, is going to be asking for trouble.

 

IMO, the reason that reviewers simply ask for an assurance of "adequate permission" is that only the cache owner can really judge what level of permission is necessary (apart from certain locations such as within National Trust boundaries).

 

Bear in mind too, that many caches were placed with full official permission, and are now unknown to the landowner and staff. I wouldn't be surprised if everyone with at least 10 cache hides more than a year old has one of these cases on their hands. Strictly speaking (and I don't know how many people do this), you should "renew" permission every year: people change jobs, or leave the company, and records of geocache permissions are probably not high on their list of priorities.

 

I have one that was placed with the knowledge of the manager of the area but not his security staff (as he didn't bother to tell anyone else), so there's no guarantee that permission will mean a trouble free cache life - but there's only so much you can do.

[+Shiny Black Shoe]

To the best of my knowledge there's no easy way of finding out who owns a particular parcel of land.

 

Technically it is possible. You should be able to use the UK Land Registry Website to determine landownership.

 

http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/

 

Click - "Find A Property" then "Map Enquiry" - navigate down to 1:1250 and you can the select the location you want... will cost you £3.00 to get the landowner's details...

 

Not saying I've ever done that for a cache though ;-)

[reelcutter]

When you do find a spot to place a cache then find the people you need to contact thats the easy part.

Waiting for a reply to a simple enquiry can take what seems like an age, you then have to explain all about caching which can seem an odd pastime to some people, weirdos.

 

A couple of my caches took months to sort out but we got there in the end. I also enjoyed doing the research for the cache which was almost as enjoyable as finding em!

 

I would say that you need a lot patience to get your permission but if you stick at it you will get your rewards, all the people I've contacted have been very helpful and intrested in what we do as it will hopefully bring in extra visitors to their sites. Good luck.

[+Crid]

Thanks for the replies. Places that are owned by Forestry Commission, local council, etc are presumably relatively easy to deal with (they are at least centralised). But what about rural caches along byways, bridleways, etc? How do landowners like farmers react to requests? I know from my dad's rambling days that some farmers seem to resent people walking across their fields, even though there's a right of way there.

 

What about "open access land"? Just how "open" is that from a geocaching perspective? Is there still a private landowner, or is under the control of the council? (I'm guessing that even if it's open in a "you can do recreational stuff here without knocking on the landowner's door" sense, that doesn't necessarily mean you can hide caches there without asking).

 

Sorry for all the questions and the vagueness of the original posting. I'm trying to get general guidance because I have several different ideas for cache sites.

[+keehotee]

What about "open access land"? Just how "open" is that from a geocaching perspective? Is there still a private landowner, or is under the control of the council? (I'm guessing that even if it's open in a "you can do recreational stuff here without knocking on the landowner's door" sense, that doesn't necessarily mean you can hide caches there without asking).

 

In the US some cachers use the frisbee rule to determine "adequate permission"

If you can play frisbee in the park without getting permission, then you should be able to cache without getting permission.

Not sure how relevant that is in this country though, where everywhere is owned by somebody.....

Edited April 18, 2008 by keehotee

[+Team Sieni]

In the US some cachers use the frisbee rule to determine "adequate permission"

 

If you venture onto the main forums, you'll find that this is ... er ... not universally accepted. To put it mildly!

[+careygang]

To the best of my knowledge there's no easy way of finding out who owns a particular parcel of land.

 

Technically it is possible. You should be able to use the UK Land Registry Website to determine landownership.

 

http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/

 

Click - "Find A Property" then "Map Enquiry" - navigate down to 1:1250 and you can the select the location you want... will cost you £3.00 to get the landowner's details...

 

Not saying I've ever done that for a cache though ;-)

 

Not as easy as it sounds... There is a lot of land that is not registered, especially if it has been owned for more than 20 years or so, as it was not mandatory to record sales with the LR until quite recently. At my UK home, the local Doctors wanted to build a new surgery. They identified the plot they fancied on the edge of the village, but even though it was used by a local farmer the paper trail back to the actual owner could not be established by the Solicitors, so they couldn't buy it!

 

If you read the cache placement rules carefully you'll just get tied in knots. Hence why you are supposed to mark a cache with your contact details so if the owner you couldn't find does discover your container and does give a darn, they can contact you. You just have to use common sense. I can think of nano caches that are fixed to road signs, like I'm sure the Highways Agency are aware of those!!