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Shooting Stars An industry keeping rural England and Wales young Print E-mail
Friday, 15 August 2008
the shooting industry is booming

The Countryside Alliance's Shooting Stars project aims to:

· Raise awareness of economic contribution of the shooting sector in rural areas
· Showcase the range of employment opportunities supported by the shooting sector
· Celebrate the diversity of young people involved in the shooting sector and raise awareness of the challenges they face living in rural areas.

About Shooting Stars

Shooting Stars is the Countryside Alliance’s 2008 project, within our shooting campaign, highlighting the role of the shooting sector in retaining young people within rural Britain.

The latest government figures reveal that 400,000 fewer young people live in the countryside now compared to 20 years ago.
“ The latest government figures reveal that 400,000 fewer young people live in the countryside now compared to 20 years ago”
This worrying trend of rural youth emigration threatens the future diversity and sustainability of rural communities across England and Wales. The reasons behind this trend are complex but they include a lack of affordable housing, few employment opportunities and limited access to local services, transport and social networks. But not every young person is leaving for the city life because some industries still play an important part in retaining young people in rural areas. Shooting is a major one according to the Countryside Alliance.

“ the shooting sector is worth £1.6 billion to the UK economy and supports around 70,000 jobs”
Independent research conducted by the Public and Corporate Economic Consultants (PACEC) showed that the shooting sector is worth £1.6 billion to the UK economy and supports around 70,000 jobs. The industry is particularly valuable in the depths of winter when the fair weather tourists have gone home and shooting participants inject much needed money into local businesses. Shooting participants across the UK spend £58 million on food and £60 million on accommodation in local areas where shooting takes place. But it’s not just in winter when local businesses benefit from shooting. Many shoot providers hire local labour to carry out estate work in all weather, in addition to using local services such as garages to repair vehicles. For example shooting estates created £27 million worth of business for garages across the UK in 2006.

“ Shooting also offers year-round environmental benefits”
The Countryside Alliance believes greater recognition of the economic benefits of the shooting sector in rural areas is needed. Shooting also offers year-round environmental benefits to vast tracks of the nation’s countryside as a result of this investment. Research by PACEC demonstrated that two million hectares are actively managed (i.e. planted hedgerow) for conservation as a result of shooting – that is an area the size of Wales.

While these figures are impressive they don’t illustrate the diversity of jobs available within the industry and the people whose lives positively benefit as a result of shooting. Through the Shooting Stars project the Alliance aims to raise awareness in the media of young people across England and Wales who are bucking the trend of youth emigration and proving that rural areas offer a wealth of opportunity through shooting supported jobs.

Why are young people leaving rural areas?

Just why has the proportion of young people aged between 15 and 24 in rural areas fallen from 21% to 15%? The Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) identified three main issues in its State of the Countryside report 2007 as playing a central role in rural youth emigration; these were housing, transport and employment. While access to transport has increased steadily from 1997 to 2004, the CRC recognises that much more needs to be done to retain young people and provide them with opportunities and incentives to remain or return to their rural roots in they choose.

Housing

“  Affordable housing remains a key challenge throughout the UK”
Affordable housing remains a key challenge throughout the UK. The average rural house price in 2007 was £257,600, which was 21% higher than an average urban house price. Such prices are well out of reach for those 32% of people living in rural areas on an income of less than £16,500 per year. The Affordable Rural Housing Commission estimated that between 14,000 and 19,000 affordable houses are needed annually in rural areas to meet current housing demand. But over the past five years only 17% of the annual current affordable housing needs are being met, resulting in many young people being precluded from living in their chosen rural localities.

In addition to a lack of affordable housing in rural areas, prohibitively high house prices mean those on lower incomes (32%) often live in more affordable houses further away from their place of work. With increasing fuel costs and higher rural car dependency, this places rural young people at a disadvantage compared to urban dwellers.

Transport

Transport is a huge issue in isolated areas Accessible and efficient public transport is vitally important for young people to access social networks, employment opportunities, education and healthcare. Accessibility to an hourly or better bus service has increased for many households in rural areas. However, nearly 50% still don’t have access to an hourly bus service.

Lower public transport accessibility means people in rural areas are usually more dependent on private transport; this is particularly noticeable in lower income families. Higher percentages of rural people on low incomes run at least one car compared to urban areas, also the percentage of rural people owning two cars in this incomes group are significantly increasing. This suggests that lower public transport accessibility makes low income families in rural communities run a car (or two) when they might not if they lived in more urban areas with better public transport.

In the countryside, a car is a necessity for most In rural areas young people under the age of 17 are particularly reliant on family or friends to give them lifts. In households with one car or no car, young people can suffer from social or economic exclusion due to poor public transport facilities. Young people who don’t have access to private transport are often limited in their job search and restricted to opportunities within their localities. Even when young people use rural public transport some employers are reluctant to recruit fearing poor time-keeping due to unpredictable services.

Some efforts are being made to tackle this disadvantage. A number Regional Development Agencies support community transport schemes which secure long term improvement in rural communities’ access to jobs, services and social activities. Wheels to Work is an example of a rural transport scheme allowing young people with jobs access to a moped for a small fee until they find alternative suitable transport. Such schemes are to be encouraged but further improvements in access to suitable transport are needed to redress the transport disadvantage in rural areas compared to urban ones.

Employment

The availability of diverse and rewarding employment in rural areas could play an important role in retaining young people. Generally rural areas have higher employment rates with long term youth unemployment being less common compared to urban ones. However rural labour markets are characterised by low skilled and insecure employment and demand for qualified workers tends to be low, which may play a part in young people moving to urban areas to seek better job opportunities.

Shooting is a huge employer Career development and training are important for young people to improve their employment and salary prospects. However these opportunities are limited in rural areas as firms traditionally tend to be smaller than those in towns and cities, meaning young people have fewer opportunities for career progression because of the nature and size of many rural businesses.

“ Shooting supports 70,000 full time equivalent jobs and has been recognised as significantly contributing to some local economies”
While research suggests that many young people are being pushed to leave by poor local opportunities for further and higher education, poor quality of jobs and low wages many value more their social ties within rural communities and want to stay to pursue local opportunities. In this context the shooting industry plays a beneficial role in providing job opportunities for those who want to live and work in their localities. Shooting supports 70,000 full time equivalent jobs and has been recognised as significantly contributing to some local economies. It’s a growing industry and offers young people a range of opportunities for those with varying skill sets – the Countryside Alliance’s Shooting Stars are living proof.

 

Copyright © Countryside Alliance
Countryside Alliance, company number 5227778. The Countryside Alliance Foundation, company number 5669451, charity number 1121034.
Both are Companies Limited by Guarantee Registered in England and Wales. Both registered office: 367 Kennington Road, London SE11 4PT