Anne McIntosh: A chance to fuel economic recovery for rural areas after harsh winter

NORTH Yorkshire has recently experienced some of the most extreme cold weather conditions in years.

As we shake the snow off our boots and face the New Year, many of us feel under pressure; not just from the elements but from the highest fuel pump prices ever and record household fuel prices too. Small wonder those living in North Yorkshire feel beleaguered.

The rise in fuel duty from January 1, and the increase in VAT from January 4, are having a huge impact on the entire rural economy. Road hauliers face rising costs for delivering goods, especially over the greater distances covered in rural areas. Ultimately, of course, these costs will be passed on to consumers.

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Rising fuel prices are also pushing up transport and feed costs for the farming community. Hill farmers are seeing a huge rise in costs for hay, haylage and silage. Cold weather from as early as November also means they must find extra food for the animals for longer than usual this winter.

With one of the longest road networks and many residents – particularly the elderly or families – dependent on their cars in such a large and sparsely populated area, the impact on the general motorist is no less severe. Plus, the cost of repairs to resolve damage caused by frost to roads – in the form of potholes or by pavement "heave" – has yet to be calculated. On top of that, with weeks of sub-zero temperatures, the escalating price of household fuel is adding insult to injury.

Normally, temperatures are substantially lower and heating costs higher in the countryside than in towns and cities, posing quite a challenge to the elderly and those on fixed incomes.

Many householders who were away from home over the Christmas period felt unable to afford to leave the heating on and returned to find their pipes frozen and then burst on the thaw, in many cases flooding their homes.

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Burst pipes also caused major disruption to water supplies for many homes and businesses. Large areas were affected including Thirsk, surrounding villages and parts of Malton. Even now, there remains a limited level of disruption.

Against this background, the coalition Government has a unique opportunity to assist rural areas. For a start, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, could make good a promise he made at the time of the Emergency Budget in June 2010 to look at the impact of fluctuating petrol pump prices on the rural economy and to investigate a potential rebate for remote rural areas. There is a strong case for doing this and I believe North Yorkshire should qualify as meeting the same criteria as parts of Scotland.

Clearly, our hauliers, farmers and others caught out in the double fuel hike are disadvantaged in comparison with their competitors elsewhere in Europe, where fuel duty, in particular on diesel, remains substantially lower. The Chancellor should examine the impact of this disparity on hauliers' competitiveness with their European counterparts.

The challenge facing farmers, in particular, comes ahead of others this year, not least the next round of negotiations for CAP reform. But for the sake of consumers too, the Government must steer a middle course and find a balance between encouraging food production and providing grants for environmental projects.

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The discussions are at their very earliest stages. Too little is known about terms crucial to any future agreement such as "active farmer" and "activities for the public good", while the review of the definition of "less favoured area" is of particular concern to our hill farmers. Having decided to replace Regional Development Agencies with Local Enterprise Partnerships, the Government should be mindful of the need to reduce bureaucracy and make decisions as locally as possible.

During the transition period, it is unclear to which body farmers and landowners should applyand how decisions about funding will be made. Transparency and clarity from Defra would be welcome.

There are enormous benefits from producing and consuming local food products; fewer "food miles", fresher food, lower environmental impacts and the possibility of higher exports. We need to boost our self-sufficiency in producing food – to become less dependent on imports and to contribute to both the local and national economy.

Local farmers are the backbone of North Yorkshire's rural economy. When farm incomes flourish, the positive knock-on effect is tremendous, but when farm incomes are challenged, market towns and the whole rural economy suffer. Farms employ family members on the farm and in good times employ others too. Many have ancillary businesses such as rentingholiday cottages, franchises such as Get Ahead Hats or specialist foods such as Shepherds Purse. The faster-speed broadband project for North Yorkshire should help these and other rural businesses.

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In this first full year of the coalition Government, and after thirteen years of neglect under the outgoing Labour Government, let us respond to the particular problems and conditions of rural areas.

Anne McIntosh is MP for Thirsk, Malton and Filey. She is also Chairman of Environment Food & Rural Affairs Select Committee.