Rural communities fight to survive

By Martha Buckley
BBC News

Villages need innovative solutions to adapt and survive

Despite the challenges facing many English rural communities, some are adapting and thriving through the sheer determination of their residents and their willingness to find innovative solutions to their problems.

The challenges faced by the Dorset village of Buckland Newton will be familiar to those in rural communities across England.

In the heart of Dorset's area of outstanding natural beauty, the stunning surroundings have pushed house prices so high they rival parts of London, while some household incomes remain as low as £10,000 per year, sparking a crisis of affordability for local people.

Concerned that local people - and young families in particular - would be priced out of the village, the parish council and district councillor Nicki Barker decided to set up a community land trust.

Based on a system used in rural parts of the US, the trust's aim was to develop a pioneering housing scheme in partnership with the local community, public and private sectors.

'Vibrant community'

The scheme is "vital" to ensuring the village retains its sense of community, says Councillor Barker.

"The village works really well because people pull together. It works as a vibrant community because of the mix both in terms of age group and financial means.

"The problem is every house that comes up [for sale] is outside the affordability bracket."

Building affordable homes is a major concern in the countryside

After a couple of false starts, the trust found a farmer willing to sell land at less than market rate for affordable housing use and sought special planning permission, which was granted in April 2007.

On it, 10 sustainable, energy-efficient, affordable homes are to be built this spring using timber frames and straw bale insulation, constructed to high standards of design.

To keep costs down and reduce the time taken, much of the building work will take place off-site using local contractors and suppliers.

Once completed, the houses will be available to local people for half the open-market value.

The owners will have mortgages on their homes and can sell the houses on, but only to local people. While they may make a small profit, the sale prices will be tied into local wage levels to keep them affordable.

One of the things that perhaps caused us to succeed was our determination never to give up Arthur Ludgate Blisland Poverty blights rural homes

Families will share ownership of the new homes with the land trust, which will retain the power to pick local people to live in them to the benefit of the village.

It has been a long, hard process to raise the money for the project and see it through the complex design and planning stages but once completed, the villagers hope it will give people the chance to bring up their families locally, bringing fresh life to the village and help ensure facilities such as the school stay open.

In addition, they hope their experiences can provide valuable lessons for others facing similar problems.

Solutions combined

In Cornwall, Blisland was another pretty village facing a different set of problems.

Back in May 1999, its shop and post office were forced to close, leaving the 600 people in the parish facing a five-mile journey to the nearest town if they wanted so much as a newspaper.

The villagers decided they had to act and set up a committee to raise the money to build a new village shop and post office.

The doctors' practice, which had for many years operated out of the village hall, also faced closure because the facilities there did not meet modern standards.

The villagers therefore decided to combine two solutions in one by including room for a doctors' practice in the new building, which they envisaged they could build within six months.

In fact the process of raising the money was far longer and harder than expected and the project took seven years to complete.

In the meantime, volunteers ran a temporary post office and rudimentary shop from an old sea container, operating six days a week.

In the end, the bulk of the funding came from the Regional Development Agency and the EU Objective One partnership, with support from North Cornwall District Council and a string of smaller financial backers.

Blisland's new shop and facilities took seven years to achieve

The villagers raised some £60,000 themselves through events such as table-top sales, village carnivals and a summer cafe near the village green.

Volunteers took it in turns to act as postmistress in the temporary post office, each donating their salary from the post office to the fund-raising effort.

In the process, the villagers found themselves brought closer together as a community.

Spurred on by the efforts being made for the shop, villagers started a parallel process to revamp and rejuvenate the village hall.

Committee member Arthur Ludgate says: "The whole thing caused a lot of work and a lot of community activities within the village, which involved a lot of people all getting closer and closer together."

Finally opened in 2006, the new facility includes a shop, post office, cafe and internet cafe, with one full-time and eight part-time staff.

There is a consultation space used by alternative therapists as well as the village doctors, and three business units, housing newly-thriving businesses.

It has been a long battle for the villagers of Blisland to get their new facilities but it has been worth it.

Mr Ludgate says: "It has improved things in the village considerably. It has created employment, it provides people with somewhere to go and to get things they need without having to travel five miles to the nearest town.

"One of the things that perhaps caused us to succeed was our determination never to give up. There was a point when fundraising got very disappointing. After that we just had to fight and fight and fight."