‘Urgent action is vital to prevent villages dying’, states a report
July 23, 2008
The Lib Dem MP, Matthew Taylor, whose report had been commissioned by the prime minister, stated many people find the countryside life very ‘challenging’, adding that ‘some urgent action is vital to prevent villages dying and also our market towns being wrecked by unsympathetic development.’
He noted: “If we fail in building the affordable homes to enable the people working in the countryside to live there we will risk turning our villages into gated communities of only wealthy commuters and the retired.”
He also touched upon the aspect of community ‘lifeblood’. Mr Taylor stated, in many cases, “only a handful of well designed homes - kept affordable in perpetuity for local people - will make all the key difference to the sustainability of a village and its services”.
It said the creation of small businesses and home-based working practices need to be encouraged in the countryside through the purposeful adoption of flexible planning policies - especially where work-based extensions to rural homes are concerned. It also concluded housing associations should consider ending bans on those setting up a home-based business unit in social and affordable homes.
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