WELL WORTH A LOOK

The release of research (conducted by a team at Cardiff University) for the Wales Rural Observatory (WRO) on Tuesday 2nd March makes interesting reading and much of the findings apply to most parts of rural Wales, including much of Monmouth constituency. Rural residents surveyed also felt that they received less value for money and lower levels of service provision for their council tax than urban and more densely populated areas.

The Deep Rural Localities report which was commissioned by the assembly government and was produced by the Wales Rural Observatory, a group of experts based at Aberystwyth and Cardiff universities, is well worth a read. While the researchers specifically looked at the experiences of four communities that are located around Llanfihangel yng Ngwynfa in north Powys, Llangammarch Wells in south Powys, around Tegryn in north Pembrokeshire and Aberdaron on the Lleyn peninsula, much of the findings have equal validity in relation to the rest of rural Wales.

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales (CPRW) has rightly said rural areas are not being treated fairly and that deep rural communities should have exactly the same access and level of services as other places in Wales. The CPRW has called on the assembly to give these rural areas the same protected equality status as minority groups.

The report, which focused its research on what has been described as "deep" rural areas, which is defined as rural communities that are located at least 30 minutes' drive-time from a centre with a population of more than 10,000. The focus was on rural communities that comprised of between 180 – 500 Households and rural communities that had fewer than five of twelve ‘key’ services, which were defined as:

• Food only shop
• Post Office
• Petrol station
• Bank or Building Society
• General Practitioner
• Dental surgery
• Pharmacy
• Educational establishment
• Permanent library
• Police station
• Bus stop or railway station
• Cash machine
  

I think that it is the composition of that final list that makes many people think about their own communities. The research has also raised long standing concerns about the incentives for younger people to stay in, move to or move back to rural communities, as well as highlighting four areas of concern: broadband provision, public transport, house prices and access to services.

The report also noted rural residents concerns about limited availability of public transport, the little affordable housing, the more expensive vehicle fuel and the higher prices in local shops. Now many of the issues and concerns identified apply equally to the rural areas of Monmouthshire which have suffered a loss of rural post offices, the loss of rural shops, poor public transport and the closure of small schools over recent years.

Amongst its conclusions the report noted, that:

• 94% of respondents rated their quality of life as either 'very good' or 'fairly good'.
• Respondents tended to cite peace and quiet, feelings of community, a slower pace of life, landscape and scenery as things they liked in their area.
• 36% of residents rated general service provision in their local area as 'poor' or 'very poor'.
• 63% rated the provision of hospitals as 'poor' or 'very poor'.
• 75% of respondents considered a school to be 'essential' in their local area; 21% considered it to be 'desirable'.
• 82% of respondents considered a Post Office to be 'essential'; 16% stated that it was 'desirable'.
• 58% of respondents considered broadband to be 'essential' and 33% stated that it was 'desirable' – but only 51% of total respondents received broadband services.
• 92% of respondents considered access to a car to be 'essential'. Only 4% of total households did not have access to a private vehicle.
• Public transport was generally rated as poor.
• 80% of properties had central heating. Similarly high proportions had loft insulation and double glazing.
• The standard of heating and energy saving was not as high in rented properties: 30% did not have central heating; 30% did not have loft insulation; and 31% did not have double glazing.
• 59% of households were not connected to mains drainage.
  

Elin Jones, AM, Rural Affairs Minister in the Plaid driven One Wales Government, who has worked hard for farming and rural communities across Wales said the report has been discussed by the cabinet, with priorities identified, including rural transport and broadband provision. Only last month the assembly government announced plans to use European funding to improve high-speed broadband coverage in rural and isolated parts of Wales.

The research (and the report) also gave rural residents the opportunity to suggest what could be done to improve things. Respondents from all categories provided suggestions for promoting and enhancing the sustainability of their local areas.

These included:

• Financial incentives for Small to medium enterprises and other rural businesses;
• High quality broadband and telecommunications;
• Governance arrangements that include local communities, local government, local businesses and organisations such as the FC, RSPB and Severn Trent Water;
• ‘Rural relief’ with regard to fuel, food, vehicle excise duty and Council Tax;
• New criteria to assess rural local government budgets;
• A more sympathetic and empathetic rural planning system;
• More affordable housing;
• Address the issue of holiday homes;
• Recognise the value of the pharmacy network and utilise it for service delivery in rural areas;
• Group service providers together under one roof in rural offices;
• Internet cafes;
• Student bus/train passes;
• Subsidised group travel for young people to access leisure facilities.
  

Many people, not just rural residents have expressed widespread concerns about the long term sustainability of rural communities across Wales, and while the Plaid driven one Wales has made a good start, clearly much more needs to be done. If our rural communities (and the rural economy) are going to thrive, not merely just survive then we need the provision of better public transport, the retention of small village schools, better more locally accessible public services, the provision of affordable rural housing for younger people and local pubs, shops and post offices – only when we begin to address these issues will our rural communities begin to thrive.

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Similar concerns have been identified in rural England, as highlighted by the BBC on Thursday 4^th March.