THE Commission for Rural Communities, a new Government quango created last year by the rural affairs department Defra, has issued the results of it first survey of rural life in the 21st century, some of it good, some of it bad.

Rural life - not the idyll it's often portrayed to be

Few of it findings will surprise country folk - see a controversial summary by our rural affairs editor John Sheard in A week in the country - but the long report could be a basis for future action by Defra to tackle some rural problems.

In the main, however, it shows that most residents of rural areas are pretty happy with their lot apart from 20% who, the survey reveals, live on or below the poverty line.

The densely written report, which is available in full on the web, speaks of rural values like "pride and self-reliance" and lists some of the major opinions, for and against country life. These include praise for:

Country schools (judged good by 56%); a good place to bring up children (69%) and relatively free of crime (74%).

The biggest complaint - well known to Yorkshire Dales locals for at least a decade - was the difficulty in finding decent affordable housing (78%).

• A detailed account of the survey's findings is available at www.ruralcommunities.gov.uk

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