CIVIL SOCIETY CENTRAL TO THE FUTURE OF OUR COUNTRYSIDE – LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION JOINS NATIONAL DEBATE

12 May 2008

The Leader of the Opposition, Rt Hon David Cameron MP, spoke of his vision for the future of the English countryside today (Monday).

A civil society approach, grounded in community and social values and working along side economic activity, was the key-note theme of David Cameron’s speech delivered at the annual lecture organised by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) [1] in London.

David Cameron said:

"The beauty of our landscape; the particular culture and traditions that rural life sustains, these are national treasures, to be cherished and protected for everyone’s benefit.

"I know there are many serious problems facing rural communities today, and I know what effective advocates CPRE are when it comes to solving those problems. But I believe there’s something bigger that connects the problems faced by rural communities with the problems we face in our towns and cities. It’s not about this policy or that policy. It’s about an attitude – a philosophy of government if you like."

David Cameron continued to outline a vision for rural communities that would give power to the local, the individual and the community and a continued strengthening of society to ensure the survival of local services such as health, transport and post offices, while enabling communities to have their say on affordable housing, planning and the production of food.

The annual lecture is part of a 12-month consultation on the future of the countryside in 2026, which will be CPRE’s centenary year.

Shaun Spiers, Chief Executive of CPRE, commented:

"At the start of our national debate on the future of the countryside we heard David Miliband, then Environment Secretary, outline his vision for land use. Listening to David Cameron give his first major speech about the countryside, it was refreshing to hear his pledge to put people and communities first and that we should trust local communities to shape decisions affecting them.

"The Conservative party will soon be publishing a Green Paper on housing and planning issues, and we will be very keen to see that it reflects the positive future for our rural communities, our green spaces, farming and food production that David Cameron has outlined today.

"But this isn’t a vision that should be left only to politicians. It should be debated by everyone. Town and country need each other to prosper and we believe we can all take action to ensure a beautiful and working countryside that we are proud to pass on to future generations."

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