Future generations: Will they stay to live and work
in the Yorkshire Dales

THE long-term viability of rural communities such as the Yorkshire Dales is at risk because young people are being driven from the countryside, says a bleak message from the Country Land and Business Association (CLA).

Earlier this week, the Government's Commission for Rural Communities reported that there are now 400,000 fewer people aged between 15 and 29 living in the countryside than 20 years ago, and the CLA has described them as "the missing generation."

In a statement commenting on the commission's report, CLA North director Douglas Chalmers issued an urgent plea for more jobs and affordable homes in rural areas before the "boiler-room" that drives country life dies out.

Mr Chalmers compared the situation to a science fiction film where the hero returns to his country roots, only to find that all the young people has disappeared and only the elderly remain.

Mr Chalmers explains: "People aged between 15 and 29 are key players in any community. They come through further or higher education, get jobs, start families and move into their own homes. In doing so, they generate the economic activity that supports the key services essential to sustaining that community.

"This Report's finding that there are 400,000 fewer of this age group in rural areas than there were 20 years ago is a clear indication that there simply aren't the jobs and houses to keep them there.

We need more affordable rural housing and greater flexibility in the planning system

Douglas Chalmers - CLA

"The next generation go away to be educated, and can't or won't come back because there are no jobs, houses or prospects. Others are effectively driven away for the same reasons, having to move to unfamiliar towns and putting miles between themselves and their families.

"This population drain can be masked by the numbers of older people moving into the countryside, but if these incomers do not have to be economically active, contributing to the rural economy, the problem can be exacerbated.

"Communities need a range of ages, but the young "stoke the boiler" to keep these communities running. We need more affordable rural housing and greater flexibility in the planning system to allow businesses to expand and provide the higher quality jobs they want to stop them leaving ".