Launch of new voice for Devon

It is hoped the delegates will sign up to a number of aims

A new partnership which aims to give rural Devon a strong voice on the national and world stage is being launched on Tuesday.

The Devon Rural Network (DRN) will provide a united force to tackle a range of issues affecting people living in the countryside.

The new group aims to bring together private and voluntary organisations involved in country life.

It has been set up as a result of investigations following the severe economic and social impact of foot and mouth disease in 2001.

We are quite clear that this strategy is useless without practical action Professor Michael Winter

Lord Haskins, the so-called rural recovery tsar, will be giving a keynote address to 80 delegates at the conference at the Two Bridges Hotel on Dartmoor to launch the network.

It is hoped the delegates will sign up to a number of aims including promoting sustainable management of the environment and taking advantage of Devon's diversity and distinctiveness.

The conference will be chaired by Professor Michael Winter, the head of the School of Geography, Archaeology and Earth Resources at the University of Exeter.

"We are well aware that people may greet the announcement of another strategy with scepticism," said Professor Winter.

"But we are quite clear that this strategy is useless without practical action. Wish lists aren't enough.

"The strategy outlines what the current position is and what good practice is presently in operation.

"DRN's job is to develop action for the future."