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Rural Issues

We are committed to rising to the challenges of rural areas and to helping these areas to fulfil their potential by serving the needs of rural people.

The countryside makes an important contribution to wellbeing and is indispensable to a healthy future. It is also a place where people from urban, suburban and rural communities have an opportunity to mix.

Churches are a valued part of rural society.  According to a survey carried out in 2004 by the Countryside Agency, a church is one of the most highly valued facilities for rural residents.  There is a church building and associated congregation in almost every rural community.

The rural population

One person in five lives in rural England. Over half of the rural population lives in villages and hamlets; the rest live in market towns (under 10,000 population) and isolated dwellings. One person in four is aged over 60. Only around one in 100 is from an ethnic minority (compared to over one in ten in urban areas) but many rural areas are now assimilating migrant workers, particularly from the enlarged European Union.

Housing

About 100,000 people move from urban to rural areas each year, a net trend present for the last 20 years that is set to continue. High demand for housing and a lack of affordable housing and social rented accommodation contribute to the exodus of young people and the experience of people living with families or friends.  Sustainable communities need a good housing mix, but planning regulations and restrictions on charities and housing associations can make this difficult to achieve.

Income

Rural deprivation and disadvantage are not obvious, as those on low incomes live side by side with those on higher than average earnings. Average pay for jobs in rural areas is about 14% less than that for jobs in urban areas but deprivation is rarely obvious or concentrated in one place. With  as many as one in eight households in villages in sparsely populated areas lacking access to public transport, people can find it difficult to obtain basic services such as health care, schools, post offices, banks and shops or access and hold down a job. Those living in the more peripheral rural areas have serious difficulty in accessing goods and services and pay more for transport.

Employment

Tourism and related hospitality businesses are now more important employers than agriculture and other land based industries such as forestry, quarrying and fishing but they tend to be in the low income sector. There is a high incidence of home-based working, owner-managed businesses and self-employment in rural areas.

Agriculture

While less than 2% of the workforce is now employed in agriculture, agricultural production takes up 70% of the landmass of England. In the year 2000 farm incomes reached their lowest point since the 1930s. The agriculture and food sector contributes 12% to Gross Domestic Product but agriculture itself contributes only 0.8%.  Prices received by farmers for some commodities are very close to the cost of production, and value is added after produce has left the farm. Many farms have diversified their businesses through letting or converting farm buildings or through new enterprises. Livestock farming is still affected by the aftermath of BSE and foot and mouth disease and by the high incidence of bovine tuberculosis. Compensation payments do not adequately cover the real losses.

The introduction of the single payment subsidy payment scheme under the Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy means that farmers receive a flat rate payment for the area of land that is farmed rather than for production. For many this means a reduction in the subsidy. A large proportion of the farmed area of England is now being managed for conservation but the introduction of this new system has not been trouble-free. 

Rural areas make an essential contribution to the health and stability of the nation through food production and care for the environment. However, the declining profitability of agriculture and rationalisation of smaller farm units can lead to fewer people caring for the land, it impacts on land management, and it also affects the surrounding communities.

Tourism

The countryside attracts around 1.2 billion day visits each year for outdoor recreation and the quiet enjoyment of nature. 60% of those living in towns and cities visit the countryside regularly. Open access on foot to mountain, moor, heath, down and common land is now permitted throughout England. There are extensive networks of footpaths and a growing number of long distance paths. Millions of visits are made each year to historic buildings, gardens and rural towns and villages An estimated 10 million people a year visit rural churches.

Churches help to make rural communities vibrant

Churches are a major contributor to community engagement and ‘social capital’ throughout the countryside. Communities benefit from social networks that are trusting and cooperative relationships. Churches are part of the ‘glue’ that holds people and communities together in strong relationships, friendships and networks.

A member of the local church may also be a member of the women’s institute, on the village hall committee, help out with an after school club and a regular in the pub. Church members form chains of connections to district councils, charitable and other organisations and other communities, whether in the immediate locality, nationally or internationally.

The church can makes a vital and unique contribution to living out bonds of mutuality, co-operation and trust in social projects; for example, lunch clubs, coffee mornings, parent and toddler groups,  Meals on Wheels, volunteer driver services, informal caring for neighbours and friends.

The effective rural church is well placed to influence wider society in forming a culture of mutual support, encouraging altruism and facilitating the informal networks of contacts and friendships which provide effective sources of local information, means of communication, energy and vitality, and a capacity to reach isolated people in their need.

Churches are major contributors to building a healthy and stable community life. In many rural communities individuals carry out several roles; for example, a member of the parish council or a school governor as well as being a member of the church congregation. Rural churches contribute greatly to community by living the life of community; adding value to the community through the activity of their members, celebrating what is good in their community and through the resources they have to offer. The church also has a responsibility to speak out, to challenge things that undermine people and communities.

Lay people are taking increasing responsibility alongside the clergy for the life of the church in rural communities. Rural congregations are being both creative and experimental in many places in ensuring an effective and living Christian presence in the heart of the communities in which they are set.

Rural church buildings are a resource for everyone. Churches can be used for a wide range of groups and community services ranging from after school clubs and lunch groups to a farmers’ market, post office and citizens’ advice centre.

As both a community building and a sacred space, a church can offer a place of celebration and mourning, service and silence.

Traditional and contemporary

Some rural churches in Essex are piloting new styles and times of worship to complement the more familiar ones. The parish of Great Oakley with Wix and Wrabness, for example, is responding to the wishes of local families to meet more informally on the afternoon of the first Sunday in the month for children’s activities, teaching, music and prayer for both adults and children, followed by a traditional English tea together.

Holiday clubs are popular in the summer months; and groups of churches, such as those in the Harwich deanery, organise a mixture of activities and entertainments at country shows, which can include worship, drama, dancing, puppets and clowns.

Articles

For a more complete analysis click on www.cofe.anglican.org/about/gensynod/agendas/gs1606.rtf

See also

In the kingdom of the supermarket trolley
Is there a ‘supermarket problem’?

Links

The Rural Community Council of Essex www.essexrcc.org.uk
Action with Communities in Rural England www.acre.org.uk

Contact

The Revd Canon John Brown, The Bishop’s Rural Officer canonjbrown@mac.com
The Revd Eric Fisher, Rural Affairs Adviser, Colchester Area eric.fisher@ukgateway.net

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