Archive: Rural Communities

The next fox-hunting? Lead ammo in the firing line

Game birds for sale in Borough Market, London

Storm clouds are gathering for another big battle in countryside politics, as conservationists prepare to take on shooting sports over the use of lead ammunition.

Can rural England be saved?

Coalition to end 'garden grab' development

Rural areas face financial exclusion

Young people in the countryside suffer brunt of recession

Youth in rural areas are hardest hit by the recession, the report claimed

Today's employment market looks grim to everyone, but rural youth face a particularly bleak reality, a report today concluded.

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Comment: Tackling the problem of gyspy and traveller sites

Gavin Williamson is the Conservative MP for South Staffordshire

A lamentable record on regulating gypsy and traveller sites is only just being overturned. But it may be too late to assuage growing anger over the issue.

Govt plans house building referendums

Settling down: Many young people cannot afford to keep living where they grew up.

Local communities could hold local referendums on modest house-building projects under new plans being put forward by the housing minister.

Coalition to end 'garden grab' development

Clarke wants to save 'vital green space'

Gardens will no longer be classified as brownfield sites in a bid to stop developers taking them over, according to the government.

Rural areas face financial exclusion

Around a million people living in rural areas in the UK face high levels of financial exclusion according to a government report which seeks to deal with the issue.

Rural communities becoming 'enclaves of the rich'

Rural communities are becoming holiday homes for the rich, the Liberal Democrats warned today.

Can rural England be saved?

Rural England is being threatened by a brutal combination of high house prices and low wages.

Housing green paper combats 'social injustice'

Housing minister Yvette Cooper today promised to deliver housing for the many and not just the few.

Young squeezed out of countryside

The countryside is fast becoming the preserve of the middle-aged and middle-class, a new report has found.

MPs debate sustainable communities plans

Tory-sponsored private bill aims to protect the high street

MPs are today debating Conservative proposals to give councils far more power over how their local communities are run.

Barker urges major planning shake-up

Barker review suggests building on some green belt land

Local authorities should consider allowing building projects on green belt land, a new government-commissioned report has said.

Blair warns of limit to Post Office support

Mass lobby of parliament calls for action on Post Office network

The government will do what it can to stop the decline of the UK's post offices but "there is a limit" to the amount of financial support it can give, Tony Blair has said.

Defra delays 'cost farmers millions'

Farmers had paid up to £22.5 million because of payment delays, auditors said

The delays in delivering the single farm payment scheme left English farmers with a bill of between £18 million and £22.5 million, a new report warns.

Post Offices 'suffering from govt inaction'

Regulator warns Post Offices are facing an uncertain future

The government must decide what it wants from the Post Office network if the UK's 14,000 post offices are to survive much longer, a new report has warned.

Tories promise to save England's gardens

Tories promise to protect England's gardens from Labour planning rules

The Conservatives have fired the first shots in the campaign for next year's local elections by promising to protect England's gardens from being concreted over.