This is not what I had in mind concerning 'mediation'. I had though about a respected person who would so this on a voluntary basis, just in the interest of the importance of K7 to the motor sport history.
Someone who can figure out, by talking to both sides, what each side has in mind and what's blocking any progress. Then he/she can come up with a compromise which both side can agree to. Maybe there is no such compromise - then it all needs to go to court.
Several people have offered to mediate and we're absolutely fine with that but it's yet to happen and, if we're honest, not really needed.
Joerg, you guys know from experience that the BBP crew is perfectly approachable. Come and have a look around, have a natter with everyone, ask your questions, come for a beer later - you've been there. And it doesn't stop there.
It's a matter of record that we have some pretty impressive sponsors and you don't even get the time of day from those global organisations unless you know what you're talking about and can negotiate and communicate effectively and then deliver safely on what you promised. To get the ear of some we had to make a good case that we wouldn't blow ourselves up, be it with gas turbines or high-pressure air systems, then demonstrate not only that we meant it but also that were sufficiently professional to actually not do it.
I've largely dealt with that side but then all of our team are first-class communicators. For example we have Sir Malcolm, our head of operations and the very definition of diplomacy and patience and also quite happy dealing with local authority bureaucracy and being part of a committee. Rich and Sal are similarly able in their field as safety divers and you'll never meet a calmer and more charming man than our John, again a top professional in his field. The list goes on and everyone had to do their bit when we made the request to operate on Bute, which was a huge ask, but again everyone liaised with who they had to in order to get the job done. I worked with the Mountstuart Trust, Malcolm worked with local councils, the hospital and the Scottish Environment Agency to name but a few, our divers and safety boat crews worked with the fishery on Loch Fad to make sure we didn't bring invasive species or cause too much disruption in the days ahead of the crew training and we all worked with the BBC and Sky News. Every member of the team was not only an ambassador for the project at all times in a town where we were strangers but each also had a role negotiating and discussing something and all did so impeccably but even then, having got everything in place, or so we thought, we then discovered a problem with our fuel. Out went calls to aerospace to work out whether we could use what we had - we couldn't - so Paraffin Pete immediately hit his phone to find a new supply on the mainland, arranged its purchase and transportation on the ferry and delivery to the island and then kept it coming, a challenge he wasn't expecting yet rose to like a trooper.
Then, when we got back and the July outing on Coniston was announced one of the first things we did was all pile into our cars and go to LDNPA headquarters to have a meeting with the big cheese. It was a time when there was much misunderstanding in the air and a few tensions but we went, eight of us if memory serves, discussed many things and came away better informed and with relations in good order for both parties.
The point being - let's have a mediator if anyone thinks it's going to be of benefit and we'll happily meet and put the kettle on and discuss whatever needs discussing for as long as he or she wants but it isn't really necessary. All concerned sitting down in the workshop for a brew would surely be way more effective and we might even clean the cups and buy special biscuits for such an auspicious occasion.
I'm only a plumber from Cannock...
"As to reward, my profession is its own reward;" Sherlock Holmes.
'It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to.' W.C. Fields.
