As part of the Rural Delivery Pathfinder programme, eight Pathfinders were set up across England to build on improvements being made in response to local challenges in service delivery. The results of the two-year programme are published today in the national report 'Rural challenges, local solutions'.
The report highlights the finding that partnership working is critical to success, and that communities must be directly engaged in defining what they want and how to deliver it. It also demonstrated that local authorities that show leadership and innovation play an important role in delivering solutions.
Launching the report at the Local Government Association's Annual Improvement Conference in Bristol, Minister for Local Government, John Healey said:
"This innovative programme has achieved important improvements for people in rural areas, and gives us a better understanding of the issues affecting rural services. The rural delivery Pathfinders also show that when local authorities have a stronger voice and greater freedom to find solutions, they can better meet the needs of their communities."
Minister for the South East and Minister for Rural Affairs, Jonathan Shaw welcomed the report saying:
"The achievements of each Pathfinder are distinctive, reflecting local priorities and circumstances. They have worked together to get more value out of funding streams and have brought strong leadership to improving rural services. I congratulate the local authorities involved for the success they've achieved and I look forward to seeing them and others share the learning and build on that success."
In the south east, the Hampshire Rural Pathfinder, led by Hampshire County Council, brought together a wide range of different organisations to find better ways of delivering public services for rural communities. They worked on twenty different projects, focusing on key topics like local food procurement, better advice for farmers, cutting red tape and helping people to get involved in planning for their local communities.
Affordable housing and transport are two key issues in rural locations. The Hampshire Rural Pathfinder investigated why it is difficult to provide more affordable housing in villages. This showed that, rather than the cost of connecting to services such as sewerage, it is more often the costs of design and construction that cause house building to be so expensive in these areas. The Pathfinder worked on possible ways to overcome these difficulties, including using modern methods of construction to bring down costs.
Another success came when the Hampshire Rural Pathfinder played a pivotal role in helping to bring 4,000 hectares of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the New Forest up to 'favourable condition'. This enabled the biggest SSSI in the south of England to once again become the crown jewel of wildlife sites thanks to improved drainage, scrub clearance and other work.
The Kent Downs Rural Advice Service was set up under the leadership Kent County Council and undertaken the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Unit as a pilot project to support and provide timely advice to farmers and landowners who were seeking to make a change to their business or land management. The intention was to generate diversification changes that are financially viable, environmentally sound and acceptable in planning terms.
The project clearly identified that there is a demand for advice on sustainable land management that meets environmental, planning and business needs. During the project, 29 Action Plans were prepared and numerous workshops held and presentations made, both for farmers and local authorities. Feedback on the Action Plans and the workshops was very favourable.
Dougal Driver, Head of Rural and Environment at Government Office South East, said:
"Rural policy is delivered by many different bodies, and this brings with it a risk of duplication and inefficiency. The south east Pathfinder was successful in finding ways to reverse this trend. It's important that the countryside continues to be a vibrant and dynamic place, one that meets the needs of those that live and work there, as well as those who visit. But of course, this means striking a careful balance between preservation and progress."
The Rural Delivery Pathfinder programme was launched jointly by Defra and local government in March 2005 to look at innovation in the delivery of rural services, test opportunities for more joined-up, flexible working and look at local priorities. Actions and outcomes are being embedded in a number of delivery plans, including Local Area Agreements.
