The time is now for a future countryside

Sally Ormiston writes about the Future Countryside initiative and the recently published paper ‘Reflections and Call to Action’ by Heather Hancock LVO DL .

Not since I started work in rural development during the Foot & Mouth crisis of 2001 has the countryside been as high on both the public and political agendas as it is going into 2024.

Be it as part of the debate about how land should be used to address societal challenges like climate change, nature loss, food security, housing supply and public health. Or issues that disproportionately affect rural communities, such as housing affordability, fuel poverty, digital equality, and access to services.

Rural affairs matter

As we look ahead to a General Election in which rural votes are likely to count more than ever, it is timely to share an important paper authored by Heather Hancock.

Produced as part of Heather’s role as Rapporteur at the Future Countryside event, the paper also reflects conversations with rural communities, policy makers, and stakeholders in her role as Chair of The Royal Countryside Fund , as Defra’s lead Independent Board Member together with insight offered from our work at Rural Solutions where Heather is a Non-Executive Director.

In her report, Heather sets out five principles to create a successful countryside for all and calls for an approach which enables those who manage the countryside to respond to society’s changing demands upon it, and to do so while restructuring local economies.

To achieve this, we must determine what we need from the countryside, and what the countryside needs to be able to deliver. This requires choices around policies, funding, and actions to address the issues that constrain the countryside, and to harness the passion, innovation, energy and in many cases sheer grit and determination that have seen rural communities endure despite, rather than because of the systems, services and support available to them.

A vibrant and viable future countryside must respond to multiple and often competing factors if meaningful change is to be achieved.

Challenges such as creating more equitable and inclusive access to the countryside whilst enabling environmental protection and regeneration. Responding to climate change and net zero, despite infrastructure challenges, while navigating rapidly evolving markets for nature-based solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises. Demand for experiences in the countryside creating opportunities for new enterprise, but a planning system that can stymie the development needed to respond. An aging population, but inadequate supply of later living housing and services, and limited affordable housing options for younger people and families. The out-migration of young people due to a lack of employment opportunities, and the struggle to recruit and retain staff in rural businesses.

These are not easy issues to deal with and should not be left to the countryside to address alone. If rural areas are to effectively respond to society’s biggest challenges, they must also be at the heart of policy designed to address them.

Despite the challenges, I remain optimistic. While policy catches up, those who live and work in rural areas will continue to go about their business, they will keep being entrepreneurial and innovating. Those with means will keep creating opportunities for those without. That is the way it has always been, and with the right support in place is why if we let it, the countryside can be what we need it to become.

Read the report, Future Countryside: Reflections and Call to Action by Heather Hancock here.