Rural living problems ignored
Rural living problems are being ignored, according to the Rural Services Network


Rural living problems are being ignored, according to a new report from the Rural Services Network (RSN).
Public transport and a lack of affordable homes are the worst problems, according to the RSN and, although these problems are not new, nothing is being done about them.
Graham Biggs, the RSN's chief officer, said: '[The Government] has broken its pledge that nobody should be disadvantaged because of where they live. We hope that our report will serve as a wake-up call that rural citizens are not prepared to be treated as second class.'
The RSN, made up of service providers such as local councils, will deliver its report to Parliament today.
The Rural Services Network report comes as the Commission for Rural Communities reports that 928,000 rural households live below the official poverty line of £16,492 a year.
Stuart Burgess, the Government's Rural Advocate, said: 'The lack of affordable homes to rent and to buy continues to be the single biggest issue highlighted to me.'
To comment on this article, use the comment box below, or email us at clonews@ipcmedia.com. Read more about the countryside.
Sign up for the Country Life Newsletter
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.
-
Uniquely unique? The Yorkshire grain silos transformed into a home that's a symphony in glass, steel and curves
Amid the beautiful countryside of North Yorkshire, on the edge of the Castle Howard Estate, The Silos is a property for which the word 'house' simply doesn't cut it. And that's not the only way in which it's made us throw out the dictionary.
-
Polluting water executives now face up to two years in prison, but will the new laws make much of a difference?
The Government has announced that water company executives caught covering up illegal sewage spills could now be imprisoned for two years, under new laws — but many still have their doubts.