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Land management - a mix of stewardship
The Crown Estate
Paper presented at the 4th annual SCA conference
"Who should run the countryside? Rural Scotland
2006"
Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston, Edinburgh
25th April 2006
Chris Bourchier
Director of the Rural Estate, The Crown Estate
Filed 20 May 06
©www.land-care.org.uk
Thank you for your invitation to speak at this
conference.
What I propose to do in 15 minutes is to give
you a very brief resumé of the Crown Estate in Scotland,
what its objectives are and the sort of values that we are looking
to advance. Essentially the objective of this presentation is to
help you to understand where we are at the moment, but most of all
to ask you where we should be.
All the revenues from the Crown Estate, all the
profit from the Crown Estate, goes to the Treasury. It goes to the
general fund. That money is in return for the Civil List. So essentially,
we are managing assets of the nation and we are presenting the profit,
as best we can achieve it within the bounds of good management practice,
back to the Treasury for use however it so wishes.
Chris Bourchier
Director of the Rural Estate, The Crown Estate
Photo©Kimpton
Graphics
In Scotland we have five rural estates totaling
some 38 thousand hectares overall and that includes agricultural
land, forestry, minerals and sporting leases. The marine estate
comprises just over half of the foreshore and the seabed out to
12 nautical miles. The three properties in central Edinburgh which,
I will emphasise in terms of the commercial mix, make up over half
of the value in the Crown Estate Scotland. So it gives you some
idea of the proportionality.
The returns from Scotland amount to 6.5 per cent
of Crown Estate revenue. So some £12 million per annum is
handed to the Treasury, out of last year’s sum of £185
million. So that gives you some perspective of the Estate in the
round.
In Scotland the Estate comprises:
Fochabers Estate on the Moray coast, purchased
in 1937 from the Duke of Richmond,
Glenlivet Estate, purchased in the same year
from the same source,
Some small amount of land surrounding Stirling
Castle,
Whitehill, to the south of Edinburgh, purchased
in 1969 from the National Coal Board, and the
Applegirth Estate near Lockerbie purchased in
1963 from the Church Commissioners.
The point I would emphasise is that we are quite
young in terms of Estate ownership. The rural estate lands have
been predominately owned since the 1930’s or purchased since
the 1930’s.
Our values and how we operate within the Estate
We have sought to explain ourselves as best we
can to all our stakeholders, whether that is the Chancellor of the
Exchequer or the cottage tenant or whoever. Our values are those
of commercialism, integrity and stewardship. We aim to demonstrate
that the Estate makes a valuable contribution to the public realm
in every sense, and is managed and taken forward in accordance with
the highest of standards and the best of values.
What I’m going to try and do is to bring
that to life in terms of what that means to an occupier, what that
means to a tenant of the estate. The Crown Estate is made up of
thousands of individual businesses, leaseholders and tenants.
In the rural estate we have 600 tenant farmers
overall – those people are what make the Crown Estate what
it is. We simply facilitate their progress. I will try to give you
a flavour of what this means to them. In commercialism we look to
deliver higher performance and added value through a partnership
approach to marketing and business.
The Crown Estate in Scotland is operated from
Edinburgh from an office in Bells Brae. The Bells Brae office also
looks after the day-to-day business of the rural Estate throughout
Britain. It also covers the mineral estates, again, throughout Britain.
Alan Laidlaw, who is here today, is over-seeing the rural Estate
customer management - the tenant business aspects - from Edinburgh
throughout the Crown Estate. This is a business.
On Exmoor we have very similar challenges, I would
suggest, to some of the businesses in Scotland. An example of someone,
who would admit through adversity, became remarkably innovative,
developed an ice-cream business, is now out-competing Walls in the
Southwest. I gather they’re quite a big outfit and is very
progressive in their operation.
Employment
We are keen to promote new opportunities and we
are working with local families to create employment in rural areas.
This is Dougie hanging from the roof. He is one of our own employees
in the Fochabers’ work force that we have in-house, looking
after Fochabers and Glenlivet, but also we are very keen not only
to provide direct employment but also to stimulate new employment
through new business ventures. A lot of those ventures are now coming
through to fruition, and some of them I will draw attention to now.
We produce an annual publication called Rural
Bulletin; on the back of it – our websites and those websites
represent the businesses of our tenants. If I can urge you, we will
put these out at lunchtime, do please click on-line and buy something
– I think the phrase goes. We are very keen to support the
businesses of those operating on the estate.
Integrity
I think you would expect a certain approach by
the Crown Estate. You do business with us and you would expect us
to behave in particular way. To treat others as we would wish to
be treated, and that’s not said lightly. That is a principle
throughout the business - whatever level of operation. We will not
be comfortable with any treatment of our customers, our stakeholders,
in any way that we would not wish to be treated ourselves.
Education
We have a responsibility in education - not least
in the current rural situation and the challenges of the moment
- to inform the customers and the business managers of today and
tomorrow. We have opportunity to do that. We have contact with a
significant urban population, particularly in London, particularly
through central property activity and ownerships. As Gordon [Robertson]
was saying, linking the Highlands with Harrods, we have our own
links just up the road on Regent Street. You will be pleased to
know anyone visiting our new headquarters on Regent Street that
you will be drinking Speyside Glenlivet water. We will be bringing
as many products as possible from the widest reaches of our estates
to demonstrate the quality of that product and its access to the
market. I can guarantee that you will be able to buy some, as there’s
little point in marketing things without actually selling them.
Our emphasis is very much on commercial transaction.
Health
I move on to health, and you may say ‘what’s
the Crown Estate got to do with that?’ We are really emphasizing
the translation of science into practice, underpinning values and
providing healthy food and lifestyle choices. You will be pleased
to know that all those products are produced in Scotland and they
are all sold in the Windsor Farm shop. So, another example of where
we’re taking the product to the market place. That farm shop
has grown apace, the turnover is phenomenal and we are learning
a huge amount about the purchasing decisions of our market place
in the South east.
Energy
This is a new ………… boiler
installed in the Tourism Centre at Tomintoul. It looks rather clean,
you can even see the water surrounding it I think Andy Wells, our
ranger, is so proud of it he washes it every morning. The principle
of adopting new viable sources of renewable energy and delivering
increased energy efficiency; tenants at Lockerbie are clearly looking
to work closely with the biomass operation there. Throughout Britain
a number of new products are coming on stream – clearly we
are all looking carefully at those which are likely to be sustainable
in energy terms, and which are also sustainable economcially in
the long-term. At this juncture there is a very exciting future
in energy development.
Stewardship
In environmental terms we produce a specific environmental
plan and for every estate it is very different. It has specific
measures that we wish to progress and it’s also very helpful
for our tenants who want to join together to implement stewardship
schemes across more than one farm. It certainly, I hope, appeals
to SNH in that respect. We are looking to achieve continuous improvement
in our environmental standards but again, through collaboration.
This is not some dream that the Crown Estate sits in a closed room
and works out. This is something that has to be practical and it
has to be something that our tenants believe in. Increasingly we
know there is a huge environmental market and that is helping progress.
Design is a key area that we are wanting to enhance.
It applies to the urban situation and equally to the rural estate
in the sort of activities we undertake, such as the improvement
of cottages, farm steadings and so on. We are looking to get high
quality function, and very importantly, value out of our development
programme.
Housing
To improve standards and suitability sounds very
flip, but we have had a programme over the years of categorizing
properties, and looking to enhance the number of properties reaching
the A and B grades which are clearly defined. In terms of suitability,
making sure that, particularly as those who occupy properties age,
that they are in the right sort of facilities. We often come across
people struggling on in totally inappropriate large, less than high-standard
properties. We are looking to ensure that they are in the right
situation, close to amenities and we are keen to talk to all of
those that wish to move through the housing chain to provide what
they need.
Recreation
Finally, in recreational terms, a lot of you I’m
sure will be familiar with Glenlivet where we’ve done a lot
of work to improve access; to improve facilities, walks and so on.
And I will pay tribute to Andy Wells, who is here today, who has
done a fantastic job of creating a tourism destination, which is
going to benefit a lot of people, not just those visiting the Glenlivet
Estate.
Commitment
Finally, Chairman, our commitment. What does all
this mean? As far as the tenant is concerned, or the leaseholder?
What we are committed to is working with our tenants and our customers
in seeking the right options. Everyone has a slightly different
requirement; I’ve learnt over the years that you can never
guess it - you can certainly never second-guess it. You’ve
got to talk to people about their own wishes, what they wish to
achieve. The Smiths at Glenlivet link with the Harrods Estate in
that they supply Father Christmas’ reindeer. They’ve
diversified in a particular way, and they go on tour each year with
their livestock enterprise. So they make a proportion of their business
income through a very unique way of operation. We gave them a business
award for their innovation and their entrepreneurial spirit, and
they keep on developing that business. That is a clear example of
the sort of venture and creative thinking that we are looking to
encourage.
In summary, I hope I’ve given you a little
snapshot of what the Crown Estate values are, where we are hoping
to go and I believe that we are working as a unit together. The
building blocks are in place to develop very successfully and so
maintain prosperity in rural Scotland.
Thank you.
©www.land-care.org.uk
Further reading recommended by Land-Care
 Andrews,
Tony (2006)." Who should run the countryside? Rural Scotland
2006."
4th Annual Conference, Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston, Edinburgh,
25th April 2006
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 04 May 06,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
Here to View
Hoey,
Kate (2006). Chairman, Countryside Alliance. "Who should run
the countryside? Rural Scotland 2006."
4th Annual Conference, Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston, Edinburgh,
25th April 2006
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 08 May 06,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
Here to View
Stevenson,
Struan (2006). "Big government in the countryside". 4th
Annual Conference, Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston, Edinburgh,
25th April 2006: "Who should run the countryside? Rural Scotland
2006".
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 09 May 06,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
Here to View
Miers,
Tom (2006). Chief Executive, The Policy Institute. "Who should
run the countryside? Rural Scotland 2006."
4th Annual Conference, Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston, Edinburgh,
25th April 2006
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 15 May 06,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
Here to View
Jardine,
Ian (2006). Chief Executive, Scottish Natural Heritage. "Who
should run the countryside? Rural Scotland 2006."
4th Annual Conference, Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston, Edinburgh,
25th April 2006
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 16 May 06,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
Here to View
Robertson,
Gordon (2006). Land management - a mix of stewardship. Honesty,
reality and accountability.
Paper presented at the SCA 4th annual conference "Who should
run the countryside? Rural Scotland 2006." Royal Highland Centre,
Ingliston, Edinburgh 25th April 2006
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 17 May 06,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
Here to View
Macaskill,
Alastair (2006). Land management - a mix of stewardship. The Assynt
Community buyout.
Paper presented at the SCA 4th annual conference "Who should
run the countryside? Rural Scotland 2006." Royal Highland Centre,
Ingliston, Edinburgh 25th April 2006
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 18 May 06,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
Here to View
Acknowledgements and Disclaimer
Land-Care is grateful to Tony Andrews, CEO
Scottish Countryside Alliance, and to Dick Playfair of Playfair
Walker for the invitation to attend the conference in a media capacity,
the opportunity to participate in both formal and informal discussion,
and for their help in providing Land-Care with transcripts of the
papers presented.
No responsibility for errors or omissions
in the transcription process can be taken by SCA, Playfair Walker
or Land-Care.
Kimpton Graphics is a division of Land-Care.
Finis
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