Rural Bulletin  2nd September 2009

Affordable Rural Housing   Community   Agriculture   Migrant Workers    Rural Church

Affordable Rural Housing

One village primary school closes every month – and 200 more to close by 2014 – as families priced out of countryside  The problem, which is accelerating, is now so great that 200 small primary schools in rural England could close over the next five years, as local authorities look to make efficiency savings and streamline the delivery of services. www.housing.org.uk  [accessed 1/9/09]

 

Shared Ownership - The Government has said it would guarantee a supply for future generations of first-time buyers by offering properties on a part-rent, part-buy basis. The idea is to use shared ownership to protect homes so they remain in the social sector. The scheme means buyers will either be restricted to purchasing 80 per cent of shared ownership properties in parts of rural England, or will have to sell them back to providers if they acquire a 100 per cent stake.  www.thisiscornwall.co.uk [accessed 22/8/09]

 

A £500,000 government package aims to provide more affordable rural housing. The support was announced by housing minister Ian Austin on 12 August.  It will be used to create more Community Land Trusts  private bodies that own or control land and assets for the benefit of the community. This mainly involves providing shared ownership or social rented homes on land provided by the CLT. The £500,000 grant is being made to the charity Carnegie UK to further develop the CLT sector by developing a trade body.  A website with portal and forum will be launched to provide information on ways of creating a trust.

Community

Releasing the Potential of Rural Economies: Investment summit, 11 September 2009. Draft Agenda available from Commission for Rural Communities.

 

ACRE responds to a new report ACRE’s briefing in response has been provided following the publication of  Rural Action: A Conservative Agenda for Rural Communities   

Market Towns event: The Action for Market Towns convention in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire on October 13 and 14 is an intensive two days of study tours, workshops and plenary sessions on important issues affecting market towns and the rural hinterland.

Launched at the Norfolk Show: Rural Money Matters: A support guide to rural financial inclusion    

 

The story of this recession in rural England lies in its diversity. Some places and groups have been largely untouched and some firms in food and drink, tourism, farming and manufacturing have been growing stronger on the back of greater demand, weaker sterling and changed habits. But elsewhere, places and communities are left visibly shaken and neglected. Rural local authorities need better access to Government funding, www.yorkshirepost.co.uk [accessed 22/8/09]

Rural Broadband: The Commission for Rural Communities has now published its own report on rural broadband etc. after the national report “Digital Britain”, was published. Mind the Gap: Digital England – a Rural Perspective 

 

Rural fuel poverty - a major study. The Rural Services Network will investigate the extent of fuel poverty in the countryside. Households are defined as being in fuel poverty if they spend more than 10% of their income on heating and energy. Researchers will examine the effect of fuel poverty on consumers, service providers and the local economy.  Last month, government advisers warned that fuel poverty levels had increased threefold within the past five years.  www.rsnonline.co.uk [accessed 22/8/09]

 

The fund Village Core Programme has been extended until 2012.  The East of England has 23 of the more than 200 registered community-run village shops. (Eastern Daily Press  3/8/09)

 

This year’s State of the Countryside conference 2009 was held in Birmingham and was targeted at all those with an interest in rural research and analysis and for non-rural researchers interested in services, sustainability, economic and governance issues.  

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is particularly concerned about the plight of sole village shops, pubs, petrol stations and post offices during this downturn and believes urgent action is required to give relief to those businesses at the heart of village life and is proposing a Rural Recession Rate Relief Scheme be adopted in this year’s Budget. www.eerf.org.uk [accessed 1/9/09]

 

The 'Village Hub' - community access and information points.  West Devon, South Hampshire and Torridge councils are carrying out a feasibility study to look at   introducing electronic outreach facilities in small settlements (with 100-1000 population).  The focus is on the use of ICT in public venues, pubs, shops and schools to provide people with access to public services.  www.rsnonline.org.uk [accessed 22/8/09]

 

Market towns saw steeper unemployment than the national average over the year to May at 120 per cent compared to 90 per cent for England as a whole. However, less than 10 per cent of a new £3 million fund to revive struggling high streets will go towards rural areas.  Dr Burgess, Chairman, Commission for Rural Communities, said …“It is disappointing that the government’s new £3 million Town Centre Initiative Fund is to be allocated in such a way that very few of the market towns and larger villages suffering from high levels of retail closures will be eligible to apply.   www.telegraph.co.uk  [accessed 31/8/09]

 

Post office network update There is only half the number of Post Offices that there were in 1965.  Change has been necessary to reduce the average subsidy per branch of around £20,000 per year.  Mobile , partner, hosted and home delivery outreach services are going well and the PO Essentials service with local retailers is currently being trialled. Getting the account for pensions, benefits and tax credits from 2010 will help and proposals for a ‘Post Bank’ may yet come to fruition if private backers can be found. There may also be scope to develop other services with local government for example. (RuSource Briefing 873)

 

Royal Mail is to phase out nearly all of their 25,000 bikes because they can’t carry enough mail or travel far enough.  Instead, postmen and women will be expected to travel to their patches in vans – and deliver their letters and parcels from trolleys.  It is believed that Royal Mail will extend the current pilot scheme nationwide, although some postmen will be allowed to keep bicycles on rural routes.  www.dailymail.co.uk  [accessed 31/8/09]

 

Norfolk's tourism industry appears to be booming despite the recession as some companies on the Norfolk Broads are boasting big increases in trade. One reason for the increase is thought to be down to the strong Euro. It's not just families from Norfolk who are choosing to stay close to home, those who might have chosen a foreign holiday are also coming. http://news.bbc.co.uk/  [accessed 31/8/09]

Agriculture

Farming costs rising. Latest figures from the Anglia Farmers Agricultural Inflation Index show an annual reduction in overall farming costs of 6.32%. But the agricultural purchasing group stresses this is mainly due to a fall in the cost of fertiliser and drop in interest rates. In reality farming costs have risen by 26% since the index was launched in October 2006. www.foodeast.com [accessed 1/9/09]

 

The UK is sleepwalking as dairy farmers sell off herds at the rate of more than one every wek. British milk yield has slumped from a peak of 14bn litres in 2002-3 to 12.76bn litres in 2008 and the UK is now only 60% self-sufficient in milk. This is due to rising costs and low returns and food security can only be  achieved if profitability returns and  dairy farmers can invest again. (Farmers Weekly 28/8/09)

 

Farm Crisis Network have set up a new Norfolk Branch.  If you are Norfolk based, have an interest in farming and are interested in joining this new group please contact: ruraladviser@btinternet.com

 

Farm Crisis Network Study – the impact of bovine TB on farming families.

the final report can be downloaded from: www.fcn.org.uk. 

 

The Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) has appointed Henry Cator as their new Chairman.  Henry Cator is a well known Norfolk landowner and business man.

 

The eighth British Food Fortnight takes place from 19 September to 4 October 2009 during Harvest Festival, the traditional time for celebrating our food. The event will celebrate the diverse and delicious range of food that Britain produces with promotions and tastings in shops, all-British menus in pubs and restaurants, food and cookery lessons in schools and glorious food festivals. All the supermarkets are being invited to expand the British promotions they ran during the event in 2008 and independent stores will be asked to champion local produce on the high street.(RuSource)

 

Bernard Matthews Farms has revealed that it has entered into consultation with staff over job redundancies at two of its East Anglia plants.  The company says that the current "challenging" economic climate could mean 44 jobs go at Great Witchingham in Norfolk and Holton in Suffolk. The two plants employ 2200 people.  www.fwi.co.uk [accessed 14/8/09]

 

Sheep sells for World record price: A new UK and world record price for a sheep has been set at the Scottish National Texel Sale at Lanark Market, Scotland, when the champion from the pre-sale show sold for a staggering 220,000gns (£231,000).   www.fwi.co.uk [accessed 31/8/09]

 

The Regional & Local Food & Drink report by research company Adsearch found that 65% of the 1000 consumers who took part wanted to buy local and regional products to support the local economy. Just over half (53%) also said they wanted to support small scale production, while a desire for fresh quality and flavours was cited by 51% of respondents. www.fwi.co.uk [accessed 31/8/09]

The new rules governing licensing applications for Village Halls and other Community Premises have just come into force, through the Dept. for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS). This appears to make it simpler, shorter & cheaper for such premises to apply for temporary licenses or variations to a current license.

 

A "radical rethink" of how the UK produces and consumes its food is needed, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has warned.He was speaking at the launch of the government's assessment of the threats to the security of what we eat. The food supply was currently secure but population growth and climate change could have an impact, he warned. Producers, supermarkets and consumers have been invited to suggest how a secure food system should look in 2030. Some of the findings from the consultation are expected to be published in the autumn.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/    [accessed 20/8/09]

 

A report commissioned by DEFRA from Cranfield University has caused some disturbance as it seems to overturn some widely-held opinions about food miles and the comparison of certain UK-produced and imported food products. It has the unhelpful title of “Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Food Commodities Procured for UK Consumption through a Diversity of Supply Chains”.  Comment from: Making Local Food Work.

 

If you love the countryside and enjoy British food you can learn more about them in the Farm, Food and Countryside booklet. This NFU publication aims to give people a better understanding of the role farmers play in both food production and maintaining the country's landscape while highlighting all that is great about rural Britain.

Migrant Workers

Swine Flu information has been made available in different languages.

Rural Church

 

Worship resources for harvest and other seasonal festivals   

Methodist Church Rural Mission page

United Reform Church Rural Mission page

 

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