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This blog is aimed at the Clinton Devon Estate team to let everyone know what the Estate Director is up to... By popular demand! Let me have your feedback...

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Estates Business Group

Two days in London - chairing Rural Committee of Estates Business Group on Tuesday where we heard from Richard MacDonald ex NFU DG who talked about his Task Force addressing farm regulation. All very promising - better regulation is the core theme - out of around 200 recommendations the Government is signing up to at least 160. Let's hope they maintain momentum... As Estates we need to keep pressing the case for better regulation and supporting Richard's recommendations. Interestingly Richard has been appointed on a panel to drive the recommendations through so I am pretty hopeful we shall see some positive action. You will be aware that John Wilding has been a member of the Forestry Regulation Task Force. All round it appears that Defra are sending some pretty good signals about freei g up land managers to do the right thing. Today at the EBG main meeting we had the chair of the Serious Organised Crime Agency give the group a fascinating talk on the challenges faced by Government and society in fighting global organised crime. Frightening stuff but we all felt reassured that the issue was being addressed so professionally. It is all about disrupting criminal activity. What caught everyone's attention was the issue of cyber crime. As a business we need to re think our approach and we will be doing this as part of our wider ICT strategy. As individuals we need to think about his too. Especially those with young children putting their life stories on Facebook...

Rain stops play... And work

Torrential rain and high winds have arrived over past 24 hours only a week after Devon was classified as being in Environmental Drought conditions... No electricity, phones or emails across the Estate. Western Power taking an exceedingly long time to sort the issue. Remarkable how unresilient the power network is. Business impact huge.

Tuesday 10 April 2012

Tree Disease and Import Controls

Check out our new 2.5 min You Tube video on the emergency felling in the Lower Otter Valley, East Devon and our views on import controls of horticultural products...

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=32DHyTVV2_o

or just Google clintondevonestates youtube !