Advice to place a cache in London

[pcambra]

Last year I tried to place a couple of caches near home (London) and hit the administrative wall of the council being unresponsive. I contacted them several times to get an approval but it was hopeless.

I think I needed the permission because they were placed in natural reserves / parks, but it was a little discouraging.

 

I want a revenge () to place my first cache, but I'm afraid I'm going to hit the same issues again.

 

What do you recommend to avoid this bureaucracy? If I place it in the street I need the same kind of permissions?

 

Thanks a lot

[+T.D.M.22]

Last year I tried to place a couple of caches near home (London) and hit the administrative wall of the council being unresponsive. I contacted them several times to get an approval but it was hopeless.

I think I needed the permission because they were placed in natural reserves / parks, but it was a little discouraging.

 

I want a revenge () to place my first cache, but I'm afraid I'm going to hit the same issues again.

 

What do you recommend to avoid this bureaucracy? If I place it in the street I need the same kind of permissions?

 

Thanks a lot

 

First off if you read the guidelines, it says permission is needed for ALL caches. When you submit a cache you state you have permission. And I'm always confused when people ask what kind of permission.

It's yes or no. Of course there is an easy, dishonest way to do it...

[+Bear and Ragged]

Last year I tried to place a couple of caches near home (London) and hit the administrative wall of the council being unresponsive. I contacted them several times to get an approval but it was hopeless.

I think I needed the permission because they were placed in natural reserves / parks, but it was a little discouraging.

 

I want a revenge () to place my first cache, but I'm afraid I'm going to hit the same issues again.

 

What do you recommend to avoid this bureaucracy? If I place it in the street I need the same kind of permissions?

 

Thanks a lot

 

First off if you read the guidelines, it says permission is needed for ALL caches. When you submit a cache you state you have permission. And I'm always confused when people ask what kind of permission.

It's yes or no. Of course there is an easy, dishonest way to do it...

 

Well worth reading the guidelines.

 

The wording is

"By submitting a cache listing, you assure us that you have adequate permission to hide your cache in the selected location."

 

This site > https://wiki.Groundspeak.com/display/GEO/United+Kingdom lists the areas in the UK where SPECIFIC permission is required. (And where cachers are NOT allowed.)

 

Be aware that some areas in London have additional requirements, mainly due to security.

[pcambra]

Thanks for your answers

It seems I've expressed myself in terms on "how to get away with this without following the rules". Not my intentions at all and I appreciate your comments.

 

I'm just confused about the fact that there are literally thousands of caches in London alone and I'm still waiting for two councils to answer to my request, thus my request of advice. I've read the rules (honestly a year ago for the ones I placed then) but I've reviewed them on your indication. I just don't want to make the same mistake.

 

There are some confusing statements on those to be honest, like "In the UK there are some locations where you must get permission to place a cache" (from https://wiki.Groundspeak.com/display/GEO/United+Kingdom#UnitedKingdom-howto) and that makes me think that if I place the cache in private property or restricted places such as natural reserves (https://wiki.Groundspeak.com/display/GEO/United+Kingdom+Land+Areas) I need to request explicit written permission.

 

But your comments make me imply that if I place a cache in the street I need to request permission as well. Is that correct? or the "usual" public space doesn't have these boundaries?

[+MartyBartfast]

As posted above the guidelines speak about "Adequate" permission, and it's largely left up to you to decide what is adequate.

 

Most of the time the UK reviewers will take your tick in that box in good faith and will publish the cache with no further ado.

 

There are some areas in the UK where reviewers will always ask to see evidence of the permission granted, e.g. anywhere that is in an SSSI, but also other places, which can be found in the link B&R posted above. No caches are allowed in the Royal Parks, so they will not be published.

 

There are also additional restrictions within about 1 mile (I think) of Parliament square, where the Metropolitan Police need to be informed and so the reviewers are strict on that area too.

 

What this boils down to is that all caches should have permission but many caches don't, and I would put money on the fact that most of the caches in London on roads/pavements/towpaths/cyclepaths don't have permission. Caches in public parks are more likely to have had permission sought, but there's no guarantee.

 

Make of that what you will.

[+Happy Humphrey]

Perhaps you spoke to the wrong person in the council, or the wrong department.

If you've really become fed up with wasting your time try a different line of approach. If the cache is just by the side of the road and in a public area then the council probably don't want to know. If you mention the potential cache placement to a reviewer, he/she will likely let you know whether it needs specific permission details, or whether the police might need to know (or if it's in one of the banned areas). London seems to have particular problems which other areas don't suffer from.