YP Comment: Firm foundations

EVEN though the perception is that rural residents are instinctively opposed to new developments so their views remain unspoilt, most appreciate that countryside communities need to evolve if they're to survive. The challenge is making sure that any new schemes are in keeping with an area's character, hence today's report by the Country Land and Business Association which has investigated the issue in depth. Its findings need to be taken on board.

For, while it’s been long established that there is a nationwide housing shortage and young families are being priced out of rural areas because supply has not kept pace with demand, there are landowners, farmers and businesses who are reluctant to advance schemes because planning bodies have been allowed to become too pernickety in their humble opinion.

A balance needs to be struck. Though it is reassuring that there remain officials who appreciate the importance of the countryside’s aesthetic appeal, CLA president Ross Murray notes that incremental increases in the number of smaller pockets of land becoming available would ease pressure on those villages and towns earmarked for larger developments which might, in turn, become too over-bearing for their own good.

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With nearly two-thirds of surveyed landowners saying they would build new homes to rent or buy if they had more confidence in their local planning department, a slightly revised approach could provide firmer foundations for the future. Then, the challenge is making sure a greater proportion of these properties are affordable to first-time buyers – and those families – who yearn to live in the countryside and support the rural economy.

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