Loading ...Rural Living Still in Decline
Rural villages are now becoming nothing more than a small collection of houses with no amenities and little opportunity for social interaction and the Government seem determined to continue their policy of ridding Britain of rural life.
The 2007 report on the State of the Countryside by the Commission for Rural Communities states that “there are now nearly 400,000 fewer young people aged 15-29 in rural areas than just twenty years ago, contributing significantly to a rural demographic which is both older and aging faster than urban areas.” If you want a depressing read the full report is here
None of this is news to anyone living in rural Britain but just once it would be nice to hear that the government care and plan to do something about supporting rural life. Instead they are continuing to slowly nail the coffin lid shut.
On 26 March the Rural Services Network reported that “Criminal damage in the countryside surged by 60% compared to a 35% increase in the country as a whole.” (this was for the period 1998/99 and 2006/07). A mere two days later their website carries the headline Rural constabularies face budget cap
I don’t know, call me paranoid but does anyone else get the feeling that the current government couldn’t give a damn about rural life or those struggling to live it?
Anyone living in a rural village will tell the same story of decline in village life. Just look at the decline of Tibenham in Norfolk, it is typical of many rural villages.
We cannot blame the government for every wrong being done to rural life, although they must carry their share of the blame but it is us, rural dwellers, that have significantly contributed to our own decline. We drive into towns and shop at large supermarkets, filling up with fuel there because it’s 2p a litre cheaper. We then drive home with our bags of shopping, past farm shops that sell local produce but of course it is less convenient so we just drive past. We then sit in the village pub and chunter that another village school/shop/church/post office/petrol station is closing down and yet fail to hold our hands up and admit we did not support them.
The Jeremy Vine Show on Radio 2 last Tuesday had a discussion about the very real threat of country pubs closing down. I wonder where we will go to complain about the decline of village life once the pub closes it’s doors?
If you do not support your local village amenities you will lose them and once the social interaction in a village ceases it becomes a collection of houses and nothing more.
Leave a Reply