In Hinterland this time, some long term political planning on rural, where better to think these issues through than in a community owned rural pub? Tourism businesses in trouble, national parks in consultation, rural dwellers under holiday pressures and finally a fabulous homily about the humble mini-bus…

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To win, Labour must become the party of rural Britain

A fascinating insight into the political agenda for “rural” within some parts of the principal opposition party. This think piece written by Lord Knight of Weymouth provides some very interesting context to the emerging political battle lines for rural England as we start the long run up to the next election. It tells us:

The Labour Party can only win as a truly national party, supporting people’s hopes and dreams. Individual aspirations can only be built in a stable nation where we equally care for ourselves, each other, and the natural environment. The future is bleak if our children have no prospect of being prepared for graduate level jobs in their own communities. We need to see jobs we aspire to in our own neighbourhoods, not in a distant city or virtual reality.

Secure local employment should also make housing affordable. It is not sustainable if only a few parts of the country, the economy, our politics, or our cultural life are thriving; and if those successful areas are having to bail out those we are failing. For Labour, success will mean that the answers for the “red wall” seats are also the answers for coastal and market towns. All share the same sense of being left behind by the economy and being on the periphery. Rural communities and former industrial towns both feel taken for granted by politicians.

Labour must be wary of different messages to different voters in different parts of the country. That spreads division. While that worked for the Tories and the nationalists, I believe that post-pandemic Britain will be ready for a vision of hope and unity. What are the steps to finding that vision? It needs to be more than a slogan. People have heard of “levelling up” but now recognise that it is empty of policy.

We must be embedded in, and listening to, the places we want to represent. Labour is the biggest political party and has members in every party of the country, the coast and the cities. Our members need to be encouraged and supported to be visible, as well as to be a source of ideas and understanding of the nature and state of their communities.

We must then commit to a better deal for those communities to have more delegated power, wealth and opportunity in their hands, out of Whitehall. The problems places have can only be solved locally by the people who live there. Giving power back to people over housing, skills, and infrastructure allows for bespoke solutions and strong local leadership.We have seen from the success of First Minister Mark Drakeford in Wales, Mayor Andy Burnham in Manchester and Sadiq Khan in London that place-based leadership works. Let us build that nationwide. 

https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/to-win-labour-must-become-the-party-of-rural-britain

Cheers to that: inside the rise of Britain’s community-run pubs

My friend Chris Cowcher at Plunkett is a fabulous champion for community run pubs. Its great to see this groundswell which I am sure he will be raising a glass to!!!

While hundreds of rural hostelries have shut down over the last decade, these establishments – generally owned by local “shareholders” – are gloriously bucking the trend.

In 2010, there were just 14 of them. Today, thanks to the mix of legislation, grant schemes, and rural residents determined not to lose their alehouses, more than 150 pubs once earmarked for closure are now owned by their local community.

Even that number is set to be dwarfed after applications to take over struggling establishments doubled during the last year. It means some 250 struggling boozers are currently subject to such a potential transfer of ownership.

“It is absolutely a success story,” says James Alcock, chief executive of the Plunkett Foundation, an Oxfordshire-based charity supporting such ventures. “We’ve had decades where the narrative has been that these businesses are not sustainable but it’s clear, once they are redirected towards the needs of local people – rather than the need to make profit – they become the real heart of their area once more.”

Whereas pub retailers have blamed cheap supermarket alcohol for their decline, this new breed of boozer has pivoted towards offering a far broader range of experiences. There’s good food and beer (both generally local), as well as staples such as live music and quizzes. But there’s also yoga sessions, soup kitchens, Scout nights, choir groups, art exhibitions and WI nights.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/community-run-pubs-villages-b1993824.html

UK tourism industry in peril as overseas visitors stay away

Sobering food for thought here….

Last year’s boom in British summer holidays was not enough to save thousands of tourism businesses, despite increased domestic bookings to popular places such as Cornwall and the Yorkshire Dales.

A survey by the Tourism Alliance of 1,927 tour operators, hotels, attractions, language schools and other travel and hospitality businesses serving foreign tourists found that 11% believe they are “very likely to fail” in 2022, and a total of 41% think they are “quite likely to fail”.

The first three months of 2022 are looking bleak, with cancellations soaring in the wake of the Omicron variant. Almost a third of businesses surveyed have lost at least half of bookings made for domestic holidays between January and March this year.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jan/15/uk-tourism-industry-in-peril-as-overseas-visitors-stay-away

Rural families struggle to find homes as holiday lets surge

Good old CPRE….

Rural families are being deprived of housing by a 1,000% surge in the number of short-term lets and holiday properties, according to countryside charity CPRE.

The huge increase was revealed in a survey by the charity – formerly the Campaign to Protect Rural England – which looked at property tenures over a five-year period between 2016 and 2021.

It showed that 148,000 homes, stood empty for large parts of the year.  Most of them were in staycation hotspots, a CPRE spokesperson added.

“Our data shows startling figures in locations such as Cornwall, Devon, South Lakeland and Northumberland,” the spokesperson said.

In the survey of property listings between 2016 and 2021, South Lakeland saw a 1,231% increase in short-term lets.

About half the families on waiting lists for social housing in the area could be homed if the holiday rentals were available on the property market, the spokesperson suggested.

In Cornwall, where short-term lets grew by 661% to 15,000 over the five-year period, all of the 15,000 waiting families could be housed.

Crispin Truman, CPRE chief executive said there has been a massive shift into an unregulated short-term rentals market that didn’t exist six years ago.

https://www.fwi.co.uk/news/farm-policy/rural-families-struggle-to-find-homes-as-holiday-lets-surge

Plans to protect England's national parks set out

I find the structures around national parks beguiling – better get on and read this carefully…..

Plans to safeguard England's national parks for future generations have been unveiled by the government.

The proposals also aim to improve access to nature and ensure landscapes are key to tackling climate change.

It follows a review of protections for national parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs).

Environment Secretary George Eustice said the plans - including a public consultation - were "a new chapter in the story of our protected landscapes".

The consultation runs to 9 April and will ask for views on the proposals to drive nature recovery and support communities that live and work in those areas.

The proposals include creating management plans for those in charge of the national parks and AONBs, and encouraging local leaders across England to organise campaigns, events and volunteering projects to bring the public closer to nature.

The Landscapes Review looked at whether the existing protections were still fit for purpose.

The review's author, Julian Glover, said: "It won't be enough just to try to conserve what we have inherited - we can change the story from decline to recovery, to make them greener, more welcoming and full of hope."

The pandemic has seen more people spending time outside but it has also highlighted inequalities surrounding access to green spaces - with people on low incomes being disadvantaged, according to the advisory body Natural England.

Increased access to nature is among the aims set out in the new plans.

Using landscapes in the fight against climate change are also central to the aims, along with protecting biodiversity and supporting people's health and wellbeing for the next 70 years and beyond.

Mr Eustice said: "These reforms will play a pivotal role in meeting our international commitment to protect 30% of land for biodiversity by 2030."

The government has also pledged to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 as part of its 25-Year Environment Plan.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60003332

And Finally

The humble minibus could be a rural lifeline

Cracking letter this – quoted in full. Very often the simplest solutions are the best!!! It tells says:

Your report (Bus services in England face axe as end to emergency Covid funding looms, 11 January) doesn’t mention the most economic solution to connect communities to town centres – the minibus.

I am an honorary director of West Oxfordshire Community Transport(WOCT), which runs five minibus services linking estates and villages to the centres of Witney and Carterton. Some of these places used to have bus services, but the routes were hugely subsidised as there were only small numbers of passengers rattling around in expensive doubledeckers. Although overall demand was low, there was a demand for the service from people who had no access to a car – usually people on low incomes or people who are unable to drive.

A minibus of up to 16 seats is much cheaper to operate – the driver doesn’t have to have a public service vehicle licence, and the capital cost is much lower. However, all passenger minibuses in the UK are converted vans and, while the few companies that do these conversions do them reasonably well, structurally they are not really up to taking the weight of 16 passengers and a driver over a prolonged period of time.

Our services are subsidised, as most such services meeting a social need will be, by the local authorities. There is a huge opportunity for a company to be established in the UK to produce right-hand-drive minibuses for passenger use.

If it is accepted that the cost-effective solution to providing links from communities to town centres, or frequent public transport services, is the minibus then the government should seriously consider establishing a minibus production company in this country.

Mike Parker

Director, WOCT; former director general, Nexus (the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive)

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jan/14/the-humble-minibus-could-be-a-rural-lifeline