Funding urged for uplands protection

UPLAND farmers and landowners should be paid for protecting the landscape, providing clean water, storing carbon and preventing floods, a report for the Government said today.

'Millions wasted' in drive to help uplands

The research from the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) also claims that green energy businesses that use hydroelectric or wind power should play a key role in the future alongside farming and the traditional leisure activities such as outdoor pursuits and game shooting.

However the investigation warns that current enterprise and initiative is being hampered by a lack of support and poor quality Internet services.

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It calls on Whitehall to put together a new uplands strategy – backed up by a person specially appointed to ensure it is implemented – and demands that local authorities carry out audits of the opportunities for renewable energy schemes to stimulate new enterprises.

CRC spokesman Michael Winter said: "Support is needed for the business opportunities in the uplands – there are opportunities in renewable energies such as small scale hydro-electric systems or, where appropriate, windfarms.

"A high percentage of drinking water is sourced from the uplands and upland peatlands store at least 200 million tonnes of carbon, according to Natural England.

"Businesses may need start-up grants but the potential is there to generate valuable products, supporting a low carbon future and green economy."

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Despite the opportunities, the report reveals that the areas face issues including low housing availability, a lack of access to services ranging from health care to mobile phone networks and broadband and limited employment opportunities.

The CRC report said current policies to support the uplands were too top-down, fragmented, uninformed and "one-size-fits-all", and a new national strategy was needed to make communities sustainable.

The report highlights the success of Sustainable Youlgrave, a community-based initiative run by the people of the Bradford river valley in the heart of the Peak District National Park which is setting out to capture the potential of renewable energy from wind, waste and water.

Various renewable energy studies are currently under way and approval has been gained for a wind turbine, two ground source heat pumps and two air source heat pumps.

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The CRC recommends that specialist advice is provided to develop new green businesses and investment in communications is needed to help businesses operate more effectively, provide access to services and enable social contact among young people and families.

The report said: "Rather than defining these areas purely by their agricultural disadvantage, the nation should be considering them as areas that offer great public benefit and environmental value.

"Not only are they iconic landscapes, providing space, tranquillity, beauty and preserving cultural heritage, but they are also working areas that deliver crucial goods and services to sustain and support human livelihoods."

A spokesman for the Campaign to Protect Rural England, Ian Woodhurst said: "This report rightly recognises the important role our uplands have in tackling future challenges whether it's providing food, water management or carbon capture."

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Country Land and Business Association (CLA) vice-president Henry Robinson said the report should have gone further in recognising the need to remove some of the restrictions, particularly within the planning system, that prevented roll-out of green energy.

He said: "The rural economy and creating jobs should be permitted to lead the requirement for new housing.

"The small amount of land available for development in uplands areas must have a mixed use for employment, housing and services."

A spokesman for the NFU said: "We are pleased to see that the report highlights the need for policies that encourage young people to stay in upland area's, and how essential farmers and land managers are to the future prosperity and maintenance of these fragile area's.

"Above all else the report highlights the huge importance of the uplands and the multiple benefits of food, recreation, culture and environment delivered by those who live and work there."