Ewen Cameron

THE CHAIRMAN of the Countryside Agency, Ewen Cameron, has been granted a knighthood in the New Year’s honours list, it was announced today.

It is an honour which has been welcomed by many countryside observers because the agency, although a fully funded by the Government, has established a solid reputation for speaking out on controversial rural issues.

On occasion, this has come very close to open criticism of its bosses in Westminster and Whitehall – not the behaviour normally associated with Government agencies, which tend to toe the party line.

Sir Ewen is also one of those rare government advisers who actually understands the countryside: he is a successful businessman as well as a working farmer in Somerset and an expert on rural tourism, now recognised as being an essential part of the rural economy.