As barns become business units, pasture land morphs into mountain bike trails, and stable blocks convert to country cottages, rural Britain is emerging from years of gloom.
From derelict sheds to farm shops, out of overgrown wet tracks into wildlife trails, and from roadside fields to maize mazes, the UK farm is also changing shape and transforming itself into a vibrant business.
This week's post looks at the changing countryside and the resurrection of the rural economy in the context of the Countryside and Rights of Way (CRoW) Act which recently extended the 'right to roam' to many areas of privately owned land.
Resurrection of the rural economy
Farmers are having to turn away from relaxing on the couch, playing table games and getting 100 free spins. The past model of relying on public subsidies to over-produce dairy goods or arable crops doesn’t work anymore. The 'new' farmer has recognised that neither the system that encouraged high production, nor the public acceptance of farming's problems, will last much longer.
From the start of 2005, subsidies paid to farmers through the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will change radically. Essentially, the link between funding and production will be broken. So farmers will be paid a flat rate as long as the land they farm is well looked after in terms of environment and agriculture.
The public expects more from the countryside as a leisure resource and are prepared to pay to enjoy it. Farmers are responding by looking beyond using their land just as a means of growing crops or tending animals. Increasingly they are starting business ventures that change their role as farmers, becoming more like business people for whom land is their most important asset.
As farmers change their outlook, so the public image of the farmer is changing. Less remote, less of a 'bumpkin', more a rural broker, bringing people closer to the land and its produce. According to the National Farmers Union (NFU), over 69% of farmers are online, nearly three quarters of these surf the Net daily for much the same reasons as other people - to buy and sell goods and services and to gather information.
Farmers' markets were in the vanguard of the change; when they were first set up in the UK in 1997, they offered an alternative channel to market farming products. Today, more than 200 farmers' markets are in operation, with a combined annual turnover estimated by the NFU to exceed £65 million.
It all looked so different in 2001, when a Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) epidemic led to devastating effects on farming and the blanket closure of many parts of the British countryside. The knock-on effect on the rural economy severely damaged businesses in these areas.
Modern rural life
A look at the Countryside Agency's report into the state of the countryside in 2004 provides some interesting facts about rural life in Britain:
- 14.1 million people live in England's rural communities (28.5% of the total population).
- The rural population grew by 14% in the past twenty years, compared with 3% growth in urban areas.
- Life expectancy is higher in rural areas than in urban England.
- Health in rural areas is generally better than other parts of the country.
- 13% of dwellings in rural communities are social housing, compared to 22% in urban areas. This despite the fact that average wages are 9% lower in rural areas.
- Rural households spend nearly £14 more per week on transport than those in urban areas.
- Minor rural roads have seen the largest increase in traffic; nearly twice the average for all roads in England.
- The condition of minor rural roads is deteriorating, whilst the state of urban roads is improving.
- Agriculture contributed nearly £8 billion Gross Value Added in 2003 to the UK economy.
- Increasing numbers (17%) of farmers are diversifying their business.
- In 2003, farming income was £15 000 per full time equivalent person, nearly double the level in 2001.
- Total farm labour force fell by 5% in the same year.
- 16% of rural villages and 4% of remote rural areas could access affordable broadband services in autumn 2003.
- This compares to 99% of the urban population and 78% of the total UK population.
Source: The State of the Countryside 2004, The Countryside Agency
Time to reflect on what's been covered so far
There is a revival underway in rural communities; this is reflected in the vibrancy that is beginning to occur in farming. Greater income levels in farming are being generated as farmers assume new roles as wealth creators and turn away from output maximisation. The improvement in rural fortunes has its downsides as well as significant benefits.
- More people are being attracted into rural areas, pushing the price of housing up as a result of the increased demand; this puts the available housing out of the range of many young rural people.
- Rural facilities such as shops, post offices and schools may be insufficient to cope with demand.
- Aspects of rural infrastructure including roads are deteriorating as more people use them.
- Poor provision of broadband Internet services may start affecting the effectiveness of rural business.
The Government recognises the role that leisure and recreation can play in revitalising the countryside. The Countryside Agency estimates that day trips into rural areas generate nearly £10 billion a year for local economies. The next section of this post looks at the efforts made to increase public access to rural areas in recent years.
New public access rights to the countryside
As if to signal the resurrection of the rural economy, new leisure opportunities have been extended to the general public recently. On 19th September 2004, the first of a whole package of rights to roam in the countryside came into force in England and Wales. The Countryside and Rights of Way (CRoW) Act 2000 starts the process of extending the 'right to roam' to many areas of privately owned land. At first just the south east and lower north west of England is affected, but within fifteen months a new legal right of access will exist over the whole of England and Wales.
Maps showing the areas of open country and common land that exist in each region have been drawn up and agreements over access are being reached with private landowners.
CRoW only gives a right of access on foot. In the legislation there is a long list of restrictions to the type of activity that is permitted, but the Act remains a significant relaxation of the rules that used to prevent access to the countryside. It also represents a major victory to organisations such as the Ramblers' Association, who have been campaigning for over a century for the right to roam.
The campaign has not been without its hectic moments; indeed, the battles that have been fought, (sometimes literally), illustrate the barriers that have existed between the rights of private landowners and the public interest in this country. These battles have continued for some in the courts.
The case of Madonna and Guy Ritchie's fight to prevent public access to parts of their Ashcombe House estate on the border of Wiltshire and Dorset is a good example. A planning inquiry was held which ruled in June 2004 that there should be no right of access to 15 of the 17 contested segments of land. The Countryside Agency claimed a partial victory, pointing to the fact that access to the two segments of Madonna's 1200 acre estate that could not be restricted account for nearly half of the total area that was disputed.
The pressure group, The Ramblers' Association, were represented at the hearing to decide the Madonna case and it was this organisation that successfully fought against the closure of a public path by another wealthy landowner, Nicholas van Hoogstraten. A locked gate, barbed wire, refrigeration units and a barn illegally blocked the 140 year old footpath over ten years. In a blow to the tycoon, the High Court allowed public access to the footpath which crosses his estate. This is unlikely to be welcomed by the property millionaire, who has labelled people who cross his land as 'peasants' and 'scum'.
Conclusion
The countryside provokes highly charged emotions; on all sides, people can take entrenched positions and campaigns are hard fought and sometimes, bloody. The recent (September 2004) protests against the law to ban fox hunting illustrated this.
Revitalising the countryside has a number of different aspects:
- the resurgence in the fortunes of farmers
- the introduction of the CRoW Act
- increases in inward rural migration
- changes to CAP rules
