Press Release
Facing the challenge of providing rural services into 2020
The number of people living in rural England is increasing all the time, but the problems of providing all the services they need are also increasing.
The University of Gloucestershire is to stage a one-day conference which will seek to look forward 12 years to the point when, if current projections and plans are fulfilled, 3 million new homes will have been built in England, with a special spotlight on the future of England’s rural services.
The conference - Rural Services 2020: the challenge of sustaining rural communities - organised by the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) and the Rural Services Network - will take place on Friday 24th October 2008.
Professor Malcolm Moseley, who will be speaking at the conference, says, “We will be focussing on the future for rural communities and the services on which they rely, such as health-care, education, leisure, transport and emergency services. The standard of service delivery is key in the rural community and makes a big difference to people’s lives.”
Focussing on service delivery, delegates will be urged to consider what the future shape of rural communities will be in 2020, to review the changes that they will have experienced between now and then and to identify the key crossroads or turning points which will have influenced this change.
The conference follows in the wake of the recently published report to the Government on the rural economy and affordable housing [Living Working Countryside, The Taylor Review of Rural Economy and Affordable Housing, July 2008) which stated that a fundamental shake up of planning and affordable housing policy is vital to breathe new life and prosperity into rural communities. The conference will argue that the delivery of rural services also needs radical attention.
Further information on the conference can be found on the CCRI website (http://www.ccri.ac.uk/Events/RuralServices2020.htm)
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Notes for Editors
The Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) is collaboration between the University of Gloucestershire, the University of the West of England, Royal Agricultural College and Hartpury College. It is one of the leading specialist rural research centres in the country with programmes of research in rural community development, rural poverty, agri-environment policies, agri-tourism, local sustainability, local economic development, EU and UK rural development, and the planning system in the countryside. See www.ccri.ac.uk for more information.
Malcolm Moseley is Professor of Rural Community Development in the Countryside and Community Research Institute, based at the University of Gloucestershire. He is an internationally acknowledged expert in the field of rural community development and has published widely on the subject. He is a member of the Carnegie Commission for Rural Community Development, which examines and promotes ways in which rural communities can be empowered to shape and influence change and work to ensure that rural priorities are fully recognised by decision makers. Professor Moseley may be contacted on email mmoseley@glos.ac.uk or telephone 00 44 (0)1242 714130
The Rural Services Network is a membership organisation which exists to ensure services delivered to the communities of predominantly rural England are as strong and as effective as possible (www.rsnonline.org.uk).
Chris Rayfield, the CCRI Business Manager, can be contacted on tel. 00 44 (0) 1242 714121
Issued by:
Julie Ryan
Communications Officer
COUNTRYSIDE AND COMMUNITY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Dunholme Villa,
The Park,
Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire
GL50 2RH
