2011 - A Critical Year for the Countryside

The coming year is going to be a critical one for the countryside, its communities and the rural economy – according to the CLA.

It will, says CLA South West Director, John Mortimer, be the year in which most of the big decisions that will shape the future of the Common Agricultural Policy reform are made. It will also be the year in which the effects of the Government’s localism agenda begin to be felt when local people will have to grasp the nettle of local government and it will be the year when the South West will finally be able to tackle the menace of Bovine TB.

“The difficult financial circumstance facing the whole country means that the work we do to protect the asset base of the agricultural and land based industries will prove absolutely vital in the next 12 months.”

It was, he said, essential that the Government recognised the importance of engaging with the mainstream EU debate and arguing for sufficient funding to pay for what is needed to achieve the twin objectives of food and environmental security.

“It is hard to overstate the importance of the decisions which will be taken during 2011 relating to the CAP - we need a policy that will promote and protect our ability, to produce food over the long term but not at the expense of the environment – and that may require us to find new ways of farming or news, and different, incentives for positive land management.”

Mr Mortimer said that as the Government moves to implement its localism agenda it will be essential for rural people to engage in the process.

“The devolution of power to a local level and the establishment of Local Enterprise Partnerships will mean that planning and the strategic economic lead for local areas will be in the hands of local communities. It is good news that the Government has recognised the need for reforms to the planning system but they need to get it right. We need a system that is flexible, transparent and efficient - not a charter for the ‘Nimby’.

“That is why it will be essential that rural voices are heard and that rural businesses get involved so that their concerns are recognised within the new structure.”

He said the Government should be congratulated for facing up to the magnitude of the bovine TB problems and for setting out a package of measures which will, at last, start to bring the disease under control – but this must not, he warned, be allowed to slip down the agenda during 2011.

"Finally, we have a commitment from the Government to roll out superfast broadband by 2015 – but watch out because when providers talk of broadband for all, too often they mean all the people they can get to easily. Our members are the ones that get left out because they’re at the end of the lane or the wrong side of the hill. What we want is a Universal Service Obligation which requires broadband service providers to supply superfast broadband to every single door by 2015,” he said.