Leadership battle at Countryside Commission

25 November 1998

Leadership battle at Countryside Commission

A FORMER professor of planning and landscape has emerged as the favourite to take the chairmanship of the successor body to the Countryside Commission.

Chris Baines emergence follows the refusal of former Conservative minister William Waldegrave to accept the job.

Ewen Cameron, a former president of the Country Landowners Association (CLA), and a farmers champion, has been ruled out after applying for the position.

His application is thought to have been compromised by the CLAs campaign against Labours manifesto commitment to a compulsory right to roam.

The new body will be created in March from the merger of the Countryside Commission and the Rural Development Commission.

• The Daily Telegraph 254/11/98 page 2