Westphalia forestry visit

Absolutely fascinating visit to Westphalia. Such generous hosts. Looked at 500kw bio gas plant, willow bio mass, wind turbines (everywhere and fitting so well into the countryside). Saw solar PV on farm buildings which again worked well in landscape but I know UK planners would froth at mouth...!

Forestry discussion extremely interesting. German foresters are viewed as professionals and generally well respected by the public. Many have Phd's. It is a sought after profession. Public Forest Estate is at State (region) level - ie c15 independent public companies. Civil servants with a local very focussed twist. in Westphalia c 60% of forests are owned by the State. Targeted not to loose money - so commercially focussed - yet aim to deliver public benefits where appropriate. Ie where forest forms part of a national park. Will find out more on Wednesday but seems to me that FC has much broader (and maybe conflicting, in terms of resource) objectives? Because of scale of countryside and forestry much less pressure for access it appears which takes pressure off balancing agendas. Wild boar and deer big issue - the latter esp for establishment of plantations. Much higher % of beech/broadleaves than UK but there again Beech does not grow well in UK and in Germany it is seen very much as a commercial crop. Not so in UK! Again broadleaf strategy underpinned by sound economics - in UK economics very unsound. Grey squirrel effect not known of in Germany. They are very lucky!

Real passion for renewables, esp wood fuel...

Visit to Forestry Commission Woodlands in SE

John Wilding took me along with him today to visit contacts in FC SE to find out more about Heathland Restoration, Community Engagement, Education and Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites and their management. We were also interested in car park management and looking at initiatives to develop new income streams. 12 hour day but worth every minute. Our hosts were exemplary - such a professional team at FC SE. We have learnt a lot and most of it transferable to our woodland management back in Devon and particularly relevant to our current public consultation regarding our future management of the East Devon Pebblebed Heaths. Key message is that engagement with local communities is essential... We are already on the case!

Thank you John for organising this and driving there and back - much appreciated...

Arson on East Devon Pebblebed Heaths

Yesterday afternoon some idiots (we think four young male idiots in a blue Renault Megane) started two separate fires on Aylesbere and Hawkerland Commons - SSSI, SPA and SAC. Killing extremely rare wildlife, causing extensive habitat damage and considerable danger to road users (from the smoke) the fire brigade and our wardens. Luckily thanks to the Estate team - especially Paul and Ed - and the fire brigade the fire was brought under control reasonably quickly. It was on the edge of a plantation and it could have been much much worse without the actions of these teams. Well done.

If anyone sees a blue Megane with four young men in it hanging around the heaths then please get the registration number, descriptions and location and call the police or the Estate Office.

New Ideas

We need to encourage more and faster innovation across the Estate in everything we do.  I know that many of you have ideas about how we can improve performance and we need to find a way to hear your ideas and consider them.  In BT we had a very formalised "New Ideas" scheme.  Before I begin to discuss how we take an approach forward I would value your ideas on how we might tackle this particular challenge.  We need a process which will ensure that everyone's ideas on every matter - large and small - are valued and captured in a timely and efficient manner.  Let me know your thoughts on this Blog or directly over the coming few weeks please.

Forestry Panel

Attended the Government's Forestry Advisory Panel on Thursday - minutes will be published within a week and I anticipate that there will be a call for evidence from the public and industry / stakeholders in due course.  Once the details of how everyone can get engaged and give their views are published I will let you know.  It is important that those with ideas and comments on the future of forestry policy in England get in touch with the Panel.

On Friday morning I chaired the Environment Agency Water, Land and Agriculture working group.

On Sunday John Wilding appeared on the BBC Politics Show - South West discussing Phythophera ramorum - the fungal disease in Japanese Larch which is devastating the Westcountry.  I have sent around the url for this on iplayer already:  www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007tjjx  You need to start iplayer at just after 49 minutes 30 seconds.

Family Office Investment Summit and Agricultural Forum

Interesting day in London. Attended a Family Office Investment Summit after nomination by our
Investment Managers Sarasin. Numerous family businesses from across Europe and their representatives. Key focus was the need to have a clear investment strategy and use all the available products and "vehicles" to build a well balanced fund capable of responding to future volatility and reflecting investment objectives. I learnt a lot! Late afternoon and evening I attended an agricultural discussion group. The topic was the recent partnership agreement between the Government and Food Industry focussing on health and nutrition. The question for me is how much should we focus on getting the food industry to change it's approach compared to how much we should try to change consumer behaviour. Debate revolved around do we need more science versus do we focus on getting messages across on obesity and healthy eating. Should we focus on schools or more mainstream channels? Really difficult issue - what do you think?

360 degree feedback - a challenge!

In order to stimulate feedback on this blog I thought I would begin to pose some questions... Following the success of Derek Wood's work with a lot of the team on personal development and personality profiling I am discussing with Derek what we do next...

So in a few weeks time we will be trialing with the senior management team 360 degree feedback. This is an approach which involves an individual asking a small number of colleagues to give anonymous and confidential feedback, identifying areas to improve the individual's performance and effectiveness. We will focus the process on what we need to do to deliver our strategy over the next ten years.

It is not just for the management team. To improve our effectiveness across the organisation I hope that we will use this approach widely. So once the senior team have trialled it we will roll it out further.

What do you think!?

Charles Moore and EBG Main Meeting

At today's Main Meeting of EBG at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, which Charles attended with me, we had updates from the CLA, the Scottish CLA, British Property Federation and Lord Inglewood. Too many issues to report here but it was reassuring to hear that many of our frustrations with policy and regulation were shared with others and the professional bodies who represent Estates are, in the main, on the case. The Localism Bill is an opportunity for estates and Big Society is something that we have been engaged with for a few hundred years. We should look to embrace these shifts in decentralising power and work harder with local communities of interest across all operations. One area not so encouraging is the emerging thinking around Community Right To Buy - which although great in principle, may result in unintended consequences of estates not letting communities have access to facilities in fear of them being targeted by local pressure groups for purchase. The fundamental principle of property rights is being challenged and EBG and Clinton Devon are campaigning for changes to the wording of this proposed legislation.

The key note speaker today was Charles Moore, journalist and previous editor of Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph and Spectator. Absolutely riveting. Charles gave his thoughts on the Coalition' workings, the individuals in it and how it all may end... One common theme was that although a commentator once said "...consistency is a sign of an unsound mind...". the seemingly continuous changing of the ground rules all the time does not allow businesses to plan - especially as we struggle to find some certainty in order to develop plans to get back on the road to recovery and out of the recession. Fiddling with 00s of policies and legislation in virtually every area of government - including the UK constitution itself (watch out for radical House of Lords Reform) is not helpful but that is exactly what is happening. Supporting wealth creation activity is the only way out of the mess we find ourselves in was the message. Interesting insights into David Cameron's management style - the concept of chairman rather than Chief Executive and the pros and cons of both approaches...

Estates Business Group - Risk Management

Chaired the EBG Rural Committee yesterday at Casenove, London. Subject Risk Management for estates, land operations and property businesses. NFU Mutual gave an excellent presentation and Sir Don Curry attended in his capacity as NFU Mutual chairman. Grosvenor Estates H&S Director gave an update on Grosvenor's approach to risk. The most engaging and lively EBG meeting I have chaired!

In a nutshell Estate and farming operations are statistically some of the most dangerous in industry. Last year over 45 people were killed across the farming industry and many more badly injured. Millions of £ in compensation paid, lives destroyed, businesses paralysed - the case studies from the NFU and estates around the table were frightening. Estates who have had serious accidents were taking it seriously, those that hadn't were, in the main, paying lip service.

Legislation is putting the onus on business and importantly managers who are legally liable to ensure a safe working environment and working practices. Equally it was up to everyone in a business to take risk management and safety seriously. It needs to be an emotional thing not just a process thing. That is there needs to be an audit trail of paperwork, processes, reviews etc... But everyone in an organisation needs to think about risk and safety all the time in every operation they perform. Lifting photocopy paper, repairing a barn roof or felling a tree.

Whilst we, at Clinton Devon, have much of the paperwork in place we need to get the principles embedded in our working practices and ethos. That starts at the top with the Trustees and me. Equally it starts with you, those working for the Estate. We have appointed NFU Mutual Risk Management to help us over the coming months. I am keen though that the subject of ensuring a safe working environment and practices is given more than a cursory discussion at team meetings. Don't wait for orders from headquarters - please start discussing how you improve the management of risk in your area of operations, wherever, it may be.

Bicton Horse Trials

A fantastic weekend at Bicton Arena for the Bicton Horse Trials. Well done to the Horse Trials team who laid on a great event. The Arena goes from strength to strength.