Georgina Allen – Signing up to Dartington

Georgina Allen is a very busy person.

She is already a South Hams District Councillor specializing in local planning, helps out a local art dealer and has her own project dealing in antiquities whilst caring for her elderly Mum, so how come she’s taken on the new role as a trustee at the Dartington Estate?

It’s fair to say that those who know Georgina may have been surprised. In the past, she has not been backward in her views and has been a lead campaigner against some Dartington Trust projects in the past. So this step is almost a definition for poacher-turned-gamekeeper.

So how did you get to be a trustee?

“It’s been on the cards for quite a while. The trust board have wanted a local voice and I think Triesman [the current boss] was happy for it to be me because I had kind of been voted in.” Nominations for trustees isn’t normally a democratic process so Georgina believes Lord Triesman was comfortable with several people, connected with the estate, wanting Georgina as an ex Totnes Town councillor on the board. “We [local councillors] met Robert Fedder right at the very beginning [of the new cohort] and I’ll admit we might have been slightly hostile. We were so used to the other lot, telling us it was all going to be closed down and sold off, that that was our expectation.”

However it became clear that the new team were actually very focused on turning a dire situation around. Their intention was to stop the decline and turn it back around into a viable project. This was going to require some very ruthless cuts and deeply controversial changes on the estate but Greg Parston’s [previous boss] view that he had a recovery plan was very much at odds with Triesmans’ view of the situation who stated: “It is self-evident that many wholly owned and operated activities [at Dartington] were poorly managed for many years, with little sector expertise, nor a grasp of the need to recover costs”. After the councillors initial meeting with the new CEO Fedder, there was a sense that this was a very different style of management with a can-do attitude. Georgina says “So instead of shouting from the sidelines I felt a sense of ‘how can we make this happen.’”

So how does it feel to be on the team rather than pointing the finger?

“I was very critical, mainly of the schemes where, whenever they needed money they sold off land.” She notes that mostly the land sold was in the village and not up at the estate with seemingly little consideration of the effects on what was only recently a small village. “Every time there was a snag they’d just sell of another tract of land or sell family silver, it was clearly not sustainable. The team at the time were un-communicative and they even had that blacklist“. Now Georgina obviously feels very differently about the attitude of the new incumbents and is enthusiastic about the potential within the grounds. “It’s a very different setup”

there’s an unexpected eagerness

Do you agree with the Direction of Travel?

“I would like to see more people involved. We can have committees such as groups of business people, wildlife trusts, councillors, arts forums… Why the hell would we not involve all these brilliant people that surround the area?” Indeed one of Georgina’s tasks is set up a community groups of interested ‘outsiders’ who can get involved with what happens on the estate.

As a high profile Totnesian are you conflicted and what have personal reactions been?

“No. Everybody’s been genuinely and incredibly nice about it. I thought I’d get a lot more kickback.  It’s a difficult position to be in. I’ve got friends who have resigned or been fired, so it’s hard for me to say I support any of that, but I do defend Dartingtons survival” she continues “I would love to see the Trust being more engaged with the community and visa-versa. There were a few raised eyebrows. Someone said I was the last person in the world they thought would be a trustee but I think most people want the place to do well. “

What constitutes a success in one years time?

“That Dartington is solvent and can start concentrating on it’s core values and aims.” Georgina acknowledges that the last few month’s have been ‘brutal’ but points out that now there is a growing culture of moving forward: “Did you know there’s a thousand people working on the estate now and I think that’s more than ever before. The Cider Press will soon be full and then there’s the Quarry…”

The Quarry?

This is a space behind Re-furnish and was used by Dynamic Adventures. The plan is still evolving but is to build an outdoor theatre amongst the trees in a natural amphitheatre. Marcus Yeoman is involved and Amy Lane, a British opera director with a strong international presence and who worked extensively with the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen along with architect Ben Morris who, it is hoped will be designing the space for multiple use are touted to be on board. Georgina enthuses “I would love to see it named the Jonny Cooper Theatre or have seasons named after him, because this is the sort of thing he would have loved“. Jonathan Cooper was an influential barrister and human rights activist who lived locally and died 4 years ago. So when does this happen? “Marcus is getting into discussions with local councillors and money raising is being organised, if we can make this happen it would be bloody amazing.”

What’s next

Georgina is animated and seems energised:  “I’ve met all the trustees now and there’s an unexpected eagerness. If you go in with that attitude, there’s scope to be excited. With some believing everything’s going wrong, there are actually very good things happening. So when you’re joining something where it looks like things can go right and you can work with a blank canvas and bring other people in, I find that quite exciting. This is something that’s really creative and being in a position to bring people in and make things happen feels really good.”