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BEAUTIFUL: But the stunning scenery of the Yorkshire Dales means soaring house prices

PEOPLE living in the countryside are suffering because of poverty and isolation, two reports on rural issues found yesterday The Rural Services Network called for action to improve life in rural communities.

It demanded a commitment from Prime Minister Gordon Brown on affordable rural housing, a review of the planning system, an assessment of the extra costs of providing services in rural areas and a Government commitment to sustaining balanced and vibrant rural communities in the long-term.

Meanwhile, the Government's Rural Advocate, Stuart Burgess, said almost a million households in rural England lived in poverty.

The Rural Services Network consists of more than 80 of England's most rural local authorities and 150 other groups.

Its report, Sustaining Rural Communities, was handed in to the Department of Communities and Local Government following its publication yesterday.

The network's chief officer Graham Biggs said: "As we have demonstrated time and again, it is unsustainable and iniquitous for people living in rural areas to pay more in council tax while receiving less by way of services.

"The Government has consistently not done enough to protect the needs of those living in rural areas and has broken its pledge that nobody should be disadvantaged because of where they live."

The report says that some of the poorest wards in the country are in rural areas, where public transport is also often a problem.

Rural areas have a dramatically ageing population and a large number of migrant workers, according to the report, which brings with it increased demands for health and social care that are often more expensive to provide outside towns and cities.

Communities can also be undermined by the loss of schools, shops, pubs, post offices and small hospitals.

Roger Begy, chairman of the network, suggested that rural post offices and village shops were becoming "endangered species".

He highlighted the effects of living without public transport, saying: "If the nearest post office is three or five miles away, it might as well be 100 miles away."

Also yesterday, Dr Burgess launched his report setting out the aspirations, experiences and concerns of rural residents.

He found that more than 928,000 households in rural England were living below the official poverty line of £16,492 annual income. His study also highlighted a lack of affordable housing, loss of services and an increasingly ageing population.

Dr Burgess said: "Rural life can offer great advantages and I have seen many examples of real community spirit and creative solutions to problems. However, I have also witnessed people in real hardship."

But because rural disadvantage is scattered "it is hidden through the averaging of official statistics and a perception of the countryside as affluent and idyllic", he added. "I urge the Government to develop policies that better reflect the nature of rural disadvantage, targeting people in need, rather than places."

Dorothy Fairburn, Yorkshire regional director for the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), said her members had experience of many of the issues raised, including poor public transport and the loss of local services and amenities.

She said: "The CLA believes that most of these problems would be overcome by a prosperous rural economy with farming at its core."

Rural businesses required a framework of support, including such basics as an efficient telecommunications system.

"Affordable housing is also a key concern which is why the CLA is pushing the Government hard to come up with a planning structure that encourages more land to be made available and allows small rural communities to develop in a controlled and sustainable manner," said Miss Fairburn.

8:23am Tuesday 4th March 2008

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