Lauren Amery
Gavin Wray
martin sullivan
Oliver Nicholls
The Commission for Rural Communities launched their tenth annual State of the Countryside report on 16th July 2008. The report assesses the way rural England has changed over the last ten years by considering the social, economic and environmental issues facing rural England.
The report is split into three chapters: living in the countryside, economic well-being, and land and environment.
Drawing out some of the implications for the region, an article on 24dash.com suggests that the report paints a challenging picture for the rural West Midlands.
Filed under: Herefordshire, Research, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire | Tagged: Commission for Rural Communities, CRC, rural economy, state of the countryside |
You may be interested to know that the datasets supporting the state of the countryside reviews from 2005 to 2008 are now available on the CRC website, http://www.ruralcommunities.gov.uk/projects/stateofthecountrysidedata
The Birmingham Post have published an article in their technology section, “Rural areas getting plugged in to hi-tech support”, that draws on the findings of this report. The article looks at the growth of technology and knowledge-based businesses in Warwickshire which apparently grew by 79% between 2003 and 2007.
The full article is available on the Post website at, http://www.birminghampost.net/birmingham-business/birmingham-business-news/e-business/2008/08/04/rural-areas-getting-plugged-in-to-hi-tech-support-65233-21463746/
There’s also an article in the Hereford Times, “Report calls for action to stop growing rural poverty in Herefordshire”, which highlights findings in the report that poverty in rural Herefordshire is increasing at a greater rate than in built-up areas.
Read the article at http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/3570881.Report_calls_for_action_to_stop_growing_rural_poverty_in_Herefordshire/