My vision for 2020 is a country where broadband (real broadband of up to a gig) is available for all who want it. This is the only way forward, rural people having the same access to ICT as the urban people. The carbon footprint would be reduced as people can continue to live and work in the countryside. Without communication this is not possible and youngsters leave to work in the cities.
The incumbent (BT) is wringing revenue out of an obsolete copper network and instead of re-investing it pays fatcats and dividends. The govt needs to wake up and force it to deliver what it promises, instead of believing that this country has broadband. It doesn’t. The cities may have it but market towns and villages are lagging far behind as they are not economic. We need to light the fibre, everywhere, no matter what it costs. Broadband (min 100meg) is a utiility, and should be available for all.

Chris Conder

A caring cohesive community, with a sustainable, economically active population Access to appropriate and suitable services for a wider age range of residents and visitors and opportunities for all to:

• Participate
• Plan
• Prepare
• Propser

Lynne Cairns Bucks Community Action - Trustee

Greater local autonomy and responsibility for providing local services

Regular exercises in identifying needs of local people and responding to any changes in priorities (every two years)

Create a greater sense of civic pride through improved recognition of local history accounts by older people and regular recordings of current events for the whole community

Walter F Jones

Whitby Town Council

• Sustainable rural communities with equitable access to employment, services and opportunities
• An end to the view that certain types of economic activity are ‘inappropriate’ in rural areas
• Adoption and implementation of the recommendations of Matthew Taylor’s review in a timely and consistent manner
• Local people (especially people moving into rural areas) need to recognise that if they don’t USE local services, they should not be surprised if those services are not there for much longer, or when they disappear

Given that we have to take a positive view, I see (perhaps!) a relationship between towns (market and larger) and villages developing, that resembles the traditional i.e. the towns providing services and the villages playing their part as service users and produce / product providers. I believe that this realignment will be brought about by  necessity.

Concerns about climate change will grow and the cost of fossil fuels will continue to increase. People and organisations and government / governance structures will have to adapt as travel becomes more expensive and technology helps new ‘remote’ ways of working to develop. Clearly drivers of change and people’s motivations will be more complicated than this and so it may not happen. But it might!

Gordon Morris

• Opportunity for local jobs (careers / skilled jobs) with good salaries
• Community focus - schools, churches, clubs, neighbours - active villages not commuter ones
• Respect for the environment from all - no fly tipping
• Local services run by and for the community supporting local trades, produce etc
• An opportunity for my children to be able to have the choice whether to live and work in a rural area, rather than having to move away for economic reasons

Jo Broadbent

NYCC

Improvement in delivery of services to rural areas using new technology e.g. video conferencing Getting rural people to understand the positives of technology:

• Online shopping
• ebay
• online doctors services
• passports online

Making sure Post Offices are still around by integrating technology - online services within Post Offices

Villages with their own sustainable energy. Wind turbines or other natural ways of getting energy.

Diversity of jobs for rural young people. Bring in more business into rural areas.

Estates of starter homes for young couples who if they want to go up the ladder a year later or move into bigger homes can only sell to first time buyers. Maybe a rent / buy scheme. This will be one of the only ways to keep a village or market town alive for the future. More support for young families and leisure facilities. Shuttle services for the young and /or elderly to get to facilities such as hospitals  / dentists

Kath Hobart

Tuxford Mine of Information

The future focus should be  based on concepts like transition towns … that rural towns and villages rely more on the collective strength and working together as a community. So examples might be using local shops and other facilities, collaborating to generate energy locally ( I read something about Settle and water power recently), building houses using local materials (and building on Matthew Taylor’s comments), local food produce etc, etc. the net benefit is also reduced transport and travelling costs and environmental impacts.

However, this doesn’t mean communities should become isolated from neighbouring, villages, towns and cities just that the focus should shift towards the local rather than the distant.

As a provider of services to rural areas, I’m also keen that we become more effective at communicating with individuals who need those services (in our case legal advice) and this implies better and wider use of available and future technologies. we erly heavily on telephones at present and this will continue but email, scanned documents and other relayed communications will help.

There you go 8 minutes work, solved the world

Graham Mynott

LOCALISATION

Making the most of local resources and services

Creating new and local resources and services

Valuing local resources and services

A SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY

People helping one another out.

People appreciating one another.

Residents, local groups, local businesses contributing to the hamlet / village / town.

ACCESS TO THE COUTRYSIDE AND WILDERNESS

We all need wilderness - the idea of it as well as vising it.

We can all benefit from out and aboutin the countryside

LINKING WITH URBAN PLACES

Undestading our mutual dependence

Benefiting from each other’s services and resources

Understanding and appreciating difference

Irene Evison

Resources for Change

To have an integrated community where people can share services i.e. Post Offices with Tourist Information Centre / Library.

Better Housing for people on low incomes.

Cheap and accessible transport schemes for people of all ages.

Use tourism to support local economy through production of tours / evets / festivals etc.

Make the countryside more accessible to urban groups who never visit rural communities.

Overall greater investment by Government to support future infrastructures of rural communities.

Keep a pub in every village

Malcolm Salisbury