Policy paper: Unleashing rural opportunity

William Varley and Louise Hinsley MRTPI, provide their thoughts on the government’s policy paper “Unleashing Rural Opportunity.”

The policy paper ‘Unleashing Rural Opportunity’ published 6 June 2023 offers new information on how the Government plans to support growth and prosperity in rural areas.

The paper recognises the importance of the farming and rural community and the role that farmers play in creating a thriving countryside and levelling up rural communities.

“For rural areas to prosper, farming needs to prosper”.

The government are investing large sums of money through the Rural England Prosperity Fund to support initiatives such as farm diversification, projects to boost rural tourism and community infrastructure projects. These projects will help support communities where it is recognised that traditional farming isn’t the main income generator. For communities and farmers to thrive alternative forms of income need to be invested in, which in turn contributes towards the creation of sustainable rural communities.

The paper revealed the government’s desire to support rural diversification within the planning system. This is evident through the planned consultation on ‘possible changes to permitted development rights which support agricultural development and rural diversification’ allowing a greater amount of flexibility for farmers so they can ‘amend their existing agricultural buildings without having to go through onerous planning processes”. The government clearly recognises the pitfalls of the existing planning system and the red tape preventing farmers from implementing ideas quickly and diversifying their businesses to grow the rural economy.

As well as presenting ideas to encourage rural diversification, the paper also responds to issues relating to rural housing supply. The paper highlights the significance for local people in rural communities to have the opportunity to buy homes to contribute to rural economic growth and flourishing communities, whilst also preserving the character and beauty of the rural landscape.

To increase the supply of housing in rural areas, the government have announced that they will fund a network of Rural Housing Enablers working across England to support site owners and community representatives to ‘navigate the planning system and securing the support of local communities for developments.’ Perhaps, more significantly the paper revealed plans for a consultation surrounding the prospect of making alterations to permitted development rights to ‘make it easier for farmers to changes their existing agricultural buildings to houses.’ There is also set to be a fresh look at the role of Permission in Principle and how this may be used to unlock more small-scale rural housing sites.

It is encouraging to see that the government recognise the importance of rural communities and their contribution to the country’s economy, and that resources should not be solely targeted towards the main cities. It has been highlighted in recent world events the important role farmers play in contributing towards the economy and this should not be ignored. The planning system should react to this by increasing the opportunities available to farmers to maintain their businesses and in turn contribute to maintaining sustainable and thriving communities.

If you would like to explore further the link to the document is below:

Unleashing rural opportunity (publishing.service.gov.uk)