CRC Report

  State of the Countryside 2010

ENVIRONMENTOVER 70% of the English land area is used for Agriculture, 10% of the land is developedDeveloped land in Green Belt areas between 1989-2008 has increased from 3% to 7% The medium or high chance of flooding risk affects nearly 650,00 people in rural areasOutputs of non-food crops e.g. wheat grown for bio-ethanol production rose substantially in the last 2 yearsIn the 5 years to 2009 the value of agricultural commodities in the UK rose to £19.3 billionUK Farmers' income in 2009 was £4.1 billion, livestock farmers experiencing growth whilst arable and dairy farmers incomes fellIncome sources have changed for many farmers with growth in food processing and retailingFuture business optimism is growing amongst farmers although a third say they have no succession plans for when they retire.People volunteering for conservation activities has increased markedly since 2001Per capita greenhouse gas emissions in rural areas are 8% higher than in urban areas

SOCIAL ISSUESThe population in rural (less sparse areas) of England showed fastest growth between 2001-2008 ahead of urban areas at 6.1%23.5% of people in rural areas are over state pension age against 18.1% in urban areas98% of urban residents have a bank or building society/cashpoint/GP Surgery/Supermarket/NHS Dentist/Pharmacy/Secondary School within 4kmFor rural residents the list reads 51% Bank/ 85% Cashpoint/ 80% GP Surgery/ 62% S/market/ 57% NHS Dentist/ 67% Pharmacy and only 48% a Sec SchoolApproximately 5% of rural households had dial-up internet in 2009 whilst the figure for urban households was 2%Low income earners in rural areas spend an average of £50 pw on travel whilst rural town dwellers spend £32 and £28 in urban areasLow income rural dwellers pay 6 times annual income for the cheapest available housing against 5 x annual income in urban areas28% of households not on mains gas in villages and hamlets are in fuel poverty the comparitive figure is 18% in urban areasSatisfaction with the place they live applied to 87% of people in the most rural districts and 76% in the most urban authorities29% of rural dwellers have given unpaid voluntary help in the year questioned (at least monthly) against 21% living in the most urban areas

ECONMIC ISSUES25% of households in sparse rural areas suffer income poverty (earning 60% less than the median for England) before housing costsGVA (Employment Value) in rural areas are led by the Public Sector (£36,866 million), Business Services & Finance (£34,800) and Distribution, Transport & Communication (£32,749 million)In the last recession in rural areas unemployment increased by 2.1% (an increase of 108,000 unemployed people)By Q4 of 2009 the figure for rural areas peaked at 7.4 redundancies per 1,000 employees, exceeding that in urban areasIn Q1 of 2009 Town/fringe dwellers claiming Job Seekers Allowance peaked at 8.8 per job vacancy by Q4 this was 4.7 to 1 in rural areas2007-2008 saw the number of 16-18 year olds not in Education, Employment or Training in ruural areas rise whilst this figure fell in large urban areasUnemployment rose to 531,610 (10.6% of those employed) in Q3 200988% of rural businesses are micro-businesses (less than 10 employees), in urban areas this figure is 81%Early Stage Entrepreneurial activity in rural areas is higher than urban areas and similar to that of the Inner London area

MORE INORMATION