'Millions wasted' in drive to help uplands

Funding urged for uplands protection

The Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) said the previous Government launched a number of "well intentioned" but ultimately flawed projects, which failed owing to lack of engagement with the people they were supposed to help.

The CRC has called on Westminster to put together a new uplands strategy and appoint a single individual to be responsible for it.

The inquiry also said the Government should support the development of green businesses – to help often deprived areas spearhead the drive to a low-carbon economy – and pay farmers for protecting the landscape and providing clean water.

The chairman of the CRC, Dr Stuart Burgess, said: "There needs to be a fundamental shift in the way the uplands are viewed. Rather than be seen as areas of disadvantage, they should be considered for their high potential to offer significant public benefits.

"With the right support they can deliver even more, and be a model of how government supports community solutions for wider benefit in the future."

The report states that a lack of "joined-up thinking" led to initiatives having "unintended negative consequences for communities, farmers and land owners alike".

It said while farming was essential to maintaining the landscape and managing natural resources, the future sustainability of the upland areas also depended on a thriving business sector. It called for new initiatives to create markets for the natural resources in areas like the Peaks, the Pennines, the Lakeland fells and the North York Moors.

The CRC makes 10 recommendations which include using funding under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to reward farmers for protecting natural assets and developing markets to pay land managers for storing carbon and protecting water supplies.

Although specific failed projects are not named in the report, it is understood that attempts to reform stock level legislation were among them.

In an effort to stop overgrazing damaging the land, the Government offered to reward farmers for reducing their livestock on the hills – but too few animals were allowed, making the work unprofitable. In some cases farmers gave up and removed the animals altogether, leading to the land becoming overgrown with bramble and bracken.

North Yorkshire farmer and uplands representative in the north, Mike Keeble, said: "Any policy in the future needs to be co-ordinated with people who are part of the community, rather than Government officers and so-called experts.

"There has been an awful lot of money wasted which could have been put to better use."

There are 40 million visitors to England's upland national parks each year, spending 1.78bn.

A spokesman for the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: "The report covers a wide range of issues and, as the CRC itself recognises, many of these are not unique to the uplands and reflect broader problems faced by all rural communities. We are looking at all these issues across the board."

MAIN POINTS OF THE REPORT

Public money was wasted on schemes that had a "negative impact" on uplands communities;

Farmers and landlords should be rewarded for protecting the landscape, providing clean water, storing carbon and preventing floods;

Government should support growth of "green" businesses like hydro-electric power and windfarms;

Investment in mobile phone coverage and broadband needed to help businesses operate more effectively.