East Devon forms partnership with River Cottage

An exciting opportunity for East Devon District Council’s Countryside team and River Cottage to collaborate has been cemented following a series of meetings held at River Cottage’s HQ at Park Farm and the Seaton Wetlands. 

Both teams are keen to inspire visitors about East Devon’s outstanding natural environment by working together on each other’s sites. Initial discussions have led to agreement to the following joint working:

• East Devon District Council’s  Countryside team to attend River Cottage’s Food Fair on May 23 and 24 as one of their exhibitors and to promote East Devon’s amazing wildlife
• East Devon District Council Countryside rangers to provide practical management events such as hedge laying, and outdoor skills on Park Farm as part of their offer to corporate clients
• To develop Trinity Hill Local Nature Reserve (right next to Park Farm) as another venue for team building days for River Cottage bespoke clients

In what were very productive meetings, Simon Dodd, Head of Operations for River Cottage said: “We are delighted to be finding ways of working with East Devon District Council’s Countryside team. A big part of our message is sustainability and the ultimate motivation for that is to protect and promote the health of the land and the natural environment. I can think of no better way to link the message and the motivation than working with the Countryside team and offering its services to those guests of ours who wish to add this expertise to the experiences they already get at RCHQ. We know a lot of our customers from outside the area have a real interest in the landscape and wildlife on Park Farm so having Tim and Steve to help us bring that knowledge to them will be fantastic”

Councillor Iain Chubb who attended the meetings and brought the two teams together said: “This is exactly the sort of partnership we want to encourage as River Cottage brings in visitors from all over the world and so shines a light on our amazing natural environment such as our World Heritage Coast.  The Countryside team have been looking at developing new commercial partnerships that will help to promote the visitor offer on sites such as the Seaton Wetlands. This partnership will go a long way to helping each other bring in more visitors to the area and so boost our local economy.”