An article examined how stigma and social exclusion affected the health and well-being of people in England supposedly living in the 'rural idyll'.
Source: Francine Watkins and Ann Jacoby, 'Is the rural idyll bad for your health? Stigma and exclusion in the English countryside', Health and Place, Volume 13 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Dec
A report (by an official advisory body) said that government policy was still not adequately considering the needs of rural communities.
Source: Monitoring Rural Proofing 2007, Commission for Rural Communities/Countryside Agency (020 7340 2900) | GHK, Evidence of the Government's Rural Proofing of Policies in 2006-7, Commission for Rural Communities
Links: Report | GHK report | CRC press release
Date: 2007-Nov
A report expressed concern that Natural England (a new non-departmental public body created in 2006) was not yet fulfilling its ambition to be an effective champion of the protection and enhancement of landscape and habitat.
Source: Natural England One Year On, Campaign to Protect Rural England (020 7981 2800)
Links: Report | CPRE press release | Natural England press release
Date: 2007-Oct
An article examined income levels and dynamics among older people living in non-rural, accessible rural, and remote rural areas. There were clear geographical variations: average household incomes of the over-65s in remote rural areas were less than those of their non-rural and accessible rural counterparts, and older people living in remote rural areas were the most likely to experience persistent low income.
Source: Lorna Philip and Alana Gilbert, 'Low income amongst the older population in Great Britain: a rural/non-rural perspective on income levels and dynamics', Regional Studies, Volume 41 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Aug
A report reviewed evidence on the roles and responsibilities of rural councillors; the broader policy and governance frameworks in which they operated; their existing support mechanisms; and ways in which their roles might be strengthened or hindered.
Source: Gordon Morris and Claire Nichols, Strengthening the Role of Local Councillors: An overview of information, policy and debate, Commission for Rural Communities/Countryside Agency (020 7340 2900)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Jul
An annual report was published on the state of rural England. There were nearly 400,000 fewer young people aged 15-29 in rural areas than 20 years previously. Rural areas had experienced a growth of over 200 per cent in the number of migrant workers in the previous three years. The average rural household spent nearly £480 per week in 2005, £60 per week higher than the average urban household. Just 44 per cent of households in sparse isolated rural areas were within easy reach of a family doctor.
Source: The State of the Countryside 2007, Commission for Rural Communities/Countryside Agency (020 7340 2900)
Links: Report | CRC press release | CPRE press release | Telegraph report | FT report | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Jul
A study examined issues and methodologies around engaging with marginalized groups in rural communities.
Source: Jayne Francis and Leighton Mitchell, Voices at the Margins: Methodologies to research and engage with hard to reach and marginalised groups of people in rural areas, Commission for Rural Communities/Countryside Agency (020 7340 2900)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Jul
An article said that although some initiatives did promote quality of life for older people living in rural England, significant limitations remained. The overarching policy response was incoherent and fragmented. Key deficits related to resource allocation, limited recognition of rural disadvantage, and minimal incorporation of the perspectives of rural elders.
Source: Alisoun Milne, Eleni Hatzidimitriadou and Janet Wiseman, 'Health and quality of life among older people in rural England: exploring the impact and efficacy of policy', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 36 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Jul
A study examined how social patterns and processes in small rural places helped to produce distinctive bases for social identities and social cohesion.
Source: Ray Pahl and Malcolm Moseley, Social Capital in Rural Places: A report to Defra, Rural Evidence Research Centre/Birkbeck College/University of London (020 7631 6473)
Date: 2007-Jul
An article examined the attributes of the rural working class population in England and Wales. Caution was needed concerning the magnitude of disadvantages that the rural working classes faced, because the composition of rural households with working class members was so dynamic.
Source: Keith Hoggart, 'The diluted working classes of rural England and Wales', Journal of Rural Studies, Volume 23 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Jul
A report (for an official advisory body) examined the social impacts of land-based industries upon rural communities. Any 'fault-line' between land-based industries and their local communities was often less real or significant than divisions within those communities – most notably those between newcomers and established residents long exposed to the needs and activities of the land-based industries.
Source: Paul Courtney et al., The Social Contribution of Land-based Industries to Rural Communities, Commission for Rural Communities/Countryside Agency (020 7340 2900)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Jul
A report said that rural communities suffered from a range of problems including: xenophobia, racism, pockets of extreme poverty, an ageing population, lack of affordable housing, depressed local economies, religious intolerance, and the exodus of young people. It called for more rural communities to take control of their own local assets and services - such as housing, renewable energy supplies, and sports clubs.
Source: Carnegie Commission for Rural Community Development, A Charter for Rural Communities, Carnegie UK Trust (01383 721445)
Links: Report | Carnegie press release | CRC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Jun
A report (by an official advisory body) examined what was meant by the term 'sustainable rural community'; what policies would help or hinder rural communities to became more sustainable; and how rural communities could contribute to this task themselves.
Source: Planning for Sustainable Rural Communities: A new agenda?, Commission for Rural Communities/Countryside Agency (020 7340 2900)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Jun
A report by a committee of MPs said that implementing new legal rights of access to open countryside had cost the Countryside Agency £24.6 million more than it had anticipated, with consequential impacts on other programmes. The agency did not have a thorough understanding of the work involved, and did not pilot test its proposed approach.
Source: The Right of Access to Open Countryside, Thirty-second Report (Session 2006-07), HC 91, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Jun
A report mapped unmet rural needs. It said that new patterns of inequality were being created that could leave the countryside more unequal than cities.
Source: Alessandra Buonfino with Lilli Geissendorfer, Mapping Rural Needs, Young Foundation (020 8980 6263)
Links: Report | Young Foundation press release
Date: 2007-Mar
A Member of Parliament introduced a Bill designed to establish an indicator for rural tranquillity, and to alter the planning process to provide for its protection.
Source: Rural Tranquillity Bill, John Penrose MP, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | CPRE press release | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Mar
A report examined the distinctive characteristics of small and market towns in rural Wales, compared with larger urban and rural areas within the region; and explored the social and economic interactions between small towns and their neighbouring communities.
Source: Small and Market Towns in Rural Wales and Their Hinterlands, Wales Rural Observatory (029 20 874970)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Mar
The Scottish Executive published a strategic plan outlining how it would target financial support to benefit rural Scotland over the period 2007-2013.
Source: Rural Development Programme for Scotland, 2007-13: The Strategic Plan, Scottish Executive (0131 244 6180)
Links: Report | SE press release
Date: 2007-Feb
A report said that between 1985 and 2005 the population of rural areas across England grew at a faster rate (0.7 per cent per year) than the urban population (0.2 per cent per year). The increase in rural population was a result of internal (within-United Kingdom) migration, rather than natural change or international migration.
Source: Population and Migration: State of the countryside update, Commission for Rural Communities/Countryside Agency (020 7340 2900)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Jan
A report examined how rural issues could best be managed within government - nationally, regionally, and locally.
Source: The Place of 'Rural' within Central, Regional and Local Government, Commission for Rural Communities/Countryside Agency (020 7340 2900)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Jan