2.2 Regional Aspirations
2.2.1 Aspiration Statement and Rationale
- The aspirations for the Region are set out in a statement which has been drawn up by the Regional Partnership to express their vision for integrated rural development and flows from the baseline analysis of the region's strengths, disparities, gaps and potentials.
Aspirational Vision
- The South West Region is a peninsula, with a high coastline to landmass ratio and the associated moderating climatic influences.
- The natural and built environment is of special quality and predominantly rural in character away from the urban centres in the north and east of the Region and the larger settlements in southern Devon. Environmental quality is recognised by a high degree of coverage by international and national designations, though this should not mask the problems of maintaining the special landscape character and negating the threats to habitat and species diversity, both within and outside protected sites.
- The heritage of the Region is rich in terms of historic landscape and archaeological remains of previous settlement patterns, together with a living culture embodied in the indigenous/non-transient population.
- Socially, there is a wide diversity of rural communities, which is itself a strength in the absence of a tangible sense of regional identity. These communities include indigenous farming communities made up of family and social networks which are under strain and suffering from a lack of regeneration by young successors and participative newcomers.
- The rural economy is dominated by the service sector, which represents 60% of employment, with direct employment in agriculture at 3.7%. The land-based sector of the economy of rural areas is characterised by small and medium sized farm businesses, supported by a range of other rural enterprises which are directly linked to rural land use or have close upstream/downstream links to the land-based industries of agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining.
- Land management is a key driver for sustainable and integrated environmental, social and economic development in such a rural region. Balance in rural development will be sought through delivery mechanisms for incentive, support and advice which recognise the interdependence of the economy, the environment and the social fabric of the Region, both internally and looking outward to other regions and internationally. These delivery mechanisms will recognise the role of the private, public and voluntary sectors and the benefits of partnership.
- In short, the vision is to enable people within the South West's diverse rural communities to maintain and improve their quality of life, keep a special welcome for those attracted to visit the Region and pass on a living and working environment of special quality and character to future generations.
Regional Aspiration Statement
The South Western Regional Aspirational Statement for the Rural Development Plan which flows from this vision is:
To enable the South West's rural communities to retain and strengthen their cultural distinctiveness, economic viability and quality of life through integrated rural dveelopment which conserves the special character and diveristy of the Region's environmental assets.
2.2.2 Clarification of Terms
- This aspirational statement seeks to encapsulate the essential elements which give the rural South West its special quality and character, and to identify the needs of the Region which the Rural Development Plan should address:
- "enable" - recognises that incentives and advice under the Rural Development Plan will only achieve positive and long-lasting outcomes where there is true ownership and active involvement of local people (including the non-governmental/private/voluntary sector). "rural communities" - communities in the broadest sense, which may mean parishes, villages, market towns, the business community, the farming community, etc., and which recognises that the diversity of such communities in the Region displaces the need for a cohesive regional identity. "cultural distinctiveness" - the South West is characterised by its rich cultural and environmental diversity, bringing with it the strong sense of place and diverse local identity which permeates the Region. Overlying this there is a strong unifying theme founded upon the very rural nature of the Region and its communities, together with a sense of remoteness which comes from the peripherality associated with its geography as a peninsula. "economic viability" - the future of rural areas depends on sustaining a living and working countryside - a healthy rural economy - this part of the statement recognises that some sectors of the community are struggling economically, and that the task in some areas is to rebuild viability or look to diversify into new economic activity "quality of life" - this recognises that the high quality environment contributes significantly to the quality of life of those who live and work in, as well as visit, the South West, but there is also hidden rural deprivation and social exclusion which needs to be identified and tackled. "integrated rural development" - development which is sustainable and seeks to strike a balance between economic, environmental and social concerns "environmental assets" - recognises the value of the Region's environment not just for its own sake or its perceived value to human beings, but also for its underpinning of the economy and social well-being of the South West.
Page last modified:
17 August, 2005
Page published: 1 October, 2000