I would like to see more power devolved down to Town and Parish Council level from the tiers of government above; this to be accompanied by more money. I would like to see a regime of less bidding for money, less hoops to jump through replaced by a system of trust – give us the money and judge us by the results rather than huge amounts of time going into bids and monitoring.

For my area I’d hope to see a depressed and deprived area where the reliance of the population was based on a paternalistic society ( large powerful employers and large powerful trade unions) now become a society where people took responsibility into their own hands for what happens, where children are encouraged to aspire to the best and hold the older generation to account.

I’d like to build on the greening of my area – from one dominated by pits and chemical works, heavy engineering etc to a green area. This is happening now and is welcomed by local people. More nature reserves.

In housing I’d like to see more varies types in terms of private / housing association. I’d like a lower density than the Government recommends and I welcome the Code for Sustainable Homes.

I want more entrepreneurship, helped by those with experience, more social enterprises. We want to build on our heritage – canals, railways, model villages and use it to establish a pride in the past helping towards a pride in our future. We want to build on tourism. W want better public facilities.

Graeme Challands

• Managed landscape but leave some wilderness

• Local demographics reflect national pattern

• Tidy, prosperous farmers welcome considerate recreational use of their land

• Local energy solutions working towards zero carbon

• Local service hubs – villages with shop / PO / Pub. Market Towns delivering everything you can find in a city, on a smaller scale.

• Railway network with frequent local halts

• WiFi in every town & village centre

• Commuting distances reducing year on year

• Homes for every stage of life

• Daily availability of health services – on line if practicable

• Community responsibility & community delivery

• Public transport that makes a car-less life possible

• Free Range children

• Carol Renahan

Accessibility – to all

Ownership – by all

Responsibility – for all

Consideration – for all

Understanding – by all

Community participation

Shared ownership

Sustainable future

Viability economically

Protection

Enjoyable

Facilities

Roger Evans

Places where people speak to each other using their voices not technology. My fear with the introduction of facebook, email, and other chat rooms is that we will lose the ability to converse naturally. The written word can’t translate meaning, dialect, and intonation so we lose local distinctions and the self esteem connected to meeting and speaking with people face-to-face and by telephone.

I’d like to promote sport, healthy eating and exercise and where better to do that than the countryside – God’s natural playground. Technology that encourages sitting in a room for hours – games consoles, the dreaded Wii will have a negative effect on the next generation’s health.

Rural areas could be improved if people take responsibility for their environment, their well being and their futures – teach them to move, interact and stop looking for scapegoats.