Countryside Alliance - love the countryside

Your countryside can enjoy real progress, but the Government should respect local democracy and empower rural communities.

It’s a fact

The voting turnout in rural areas at the last General Election was 63%, significantly higher than the national average.

Why we care

The Government should be looking at ways of investing more decision-making powers at local government level. The countryside still needs meaningful rural community emancipation and empowerment at local level, starting with parish councils and extending to district and county councils. We feel that the views of communities should be heard at all levels of government.

The Countryside Alliance believes:

 The powers and authority of parish councils should be set in a clear legislative framework to give them a more powerful voice and ensure that local communities can feed into and influence decisions which directly affect them. More on this...

 County councils should mount public information programmes to support and encourage people with the relevant skills within local communities to become members of parish councils. More on this...

 Training programmes should be developed and provided under county councils budgets or through Regional Development Agency grants to improve the resources of parish officers. More on this...

 Executive powers, especially in relation to planning, should be devolved from Whitehall and not vice-versa. More on this...

 Where unitary authorities exist, there is a need to ensure that these authorities are not subsumed by dominance of representation from urban areas. More on this...