Latest News
02 Jan 2017
Garden villages ‘will ease housing crisis’
England’s first ever garden villages will help to ease the country’s housing crisis, says the government. Garden villages are settlements of between 1,500 and 10,000 homes. The location of the...
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02 Jan 2017
Survey reveals UK’s best place to live
Rural areas feature highly in the UK’s best places to live, according to the latest Halifax Quality of Life Survey. The local authority district of Winchester in Hampshire scooped the top...
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01 Jan 2017
Call for action on fuel poverty
FUEL poverty figures have prompted a call for the government to tackle the tariffs of the big six energy companies. Shadow business secretary Clive Lewis said action was needed following...
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23 Dec 2016
‘Sparsity’ funding to protect rural schools
Government plans will see small rural schools protected by a ‘sparsity’ funding factor have been broadly welcomed. Education secretary Justine Greening made the announcement in the House of Commons on...
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19 Dec 2016
One in four rural homes lack broadband
The government’s telecoms watchdog says one in four rural homes still cannot get a decent broadband connection. New research by Ofcom found that the number of UK properties unable to...
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19 Dec 2016
Post Offices ‘must be more accessible’
POST Offices are becoming more important to local communities and should be more accessible, says the Rural Services Network. The RSN made the recommendation in response to a government consultation...
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15 Dec 2016
Rural dismay at funding settlement
The Rural Services Network has slammed the government’s provisional funding settlement for local authorities. Rural communities will be severely disadvantaged by the settlement, which covers proposed local authority funding for...
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15 Dec 2016
UK mobile coverage ‘worse than Albania’
Mobile phone network coverage in the UK is worse than in Romania, Albania and Peru, says a report. Britain is 54th in the world for 4G coverage, and the typical...
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09 Dec 2016
Crackdown against brazen fly-tippers
Councils are using new powers to crush vehicles belonging to fly-tippers who illegally dump rubbish in the countryside. Local authorities are also calling for the closure of a legal loophole...
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21 Oct 2016
Best High Street finalists revealed
THE government-backed Great British High Street competition has revealed the nation’s best high streets. Twenty-seven finalists now have the chance to impress an expert judging panel and battle it out...
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