Warning over rural exodus

8:13am Tuesday 31st July 2007

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THE Government needs to re-focus its rural policies if it wants to stop the exodus of young people from the countryside - or face the consequences of ageing rural communities and dormitory villages.

That's the message from the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) which says the State of Rural Communities report, published last week by the Commission for Rural Communities, represents a damning criticism of government policy in rural England.

The report highlights the fact there are nearly half a million fewer 15 to 29-year-olds currently living in rural areas than there were 20 years ago - a problem the CLA says it has been trying to bring to the top of the agenda for nearly as long.

Paul Millard, communications manager for the CLA in Wiltshire, says its time to redress the balance and stop the drift of young people away from the countryside.

"Lack of affordable homes, lack of employment opportunities and lack of services - is it any wonder young people have been leaving the countryside?" he asked.

"Many villages now have no schools, doctors' surgeries, shops, post offices or job opportunities - they have all disappeared because it is cheaper to provide them in the towns. At the same time, average house prices in villages across the south west have risen by staggering amounts to levels which are clearly not affordable for most young people. We need to redress the imbalance in the population of our rural communities - it is about giving young people opportunities and choice," he said.

The CLA says government should have been using housing growth as a means of retaining and enhancing the sustainability of rural communities - yet the reverse has been happening.

"Four hundred thousand people in one place is about the population of Bristol - you might notice an empty city, but spread across the entire country they're much harder to spot," added Mr Millard.

"Our rural communities have been let down by the policy makers - and allowed to drift into social decline. Vibrant rural communities need young people at their heart - and that means greater flexibility in the planning system to allow businesses to expand and provide the higher quality jobs; it means building more affordable homes and investing in better services.

"The Government must work to reverse the damage which has been allowed to happen, and meet the challenge of making our villages convenient and available places to live and work."