Steve Brine

Focus on the countryside

Steve Brine looks at positive Conservative policies to rebuild trust between rural communities and government.

Winchester's countryside is home to beautiful landscapes, spectacular views and some of Hampshire's most loved towns and villages.

But, after 12 years of Labour, rural communities are struggling. Many around Winchester have been hit hard by the recession; they have had local services withdrawn and power taken away from local people. There is a serious shortage of affordable housing, inadequate public transport and rising poverty. Valuable schools, post offices, pubs and healthcare facilities are under threat.

Prospective Conservative MP Steve Brine says; “We desperately need a new government which understands rural areas and cares about them. A Conservative government will breathe new life into the countryside and I will be an enthusiastic supporter of our local rural communities in Parliament if I become the MP.  Nick Herbert (MP for Arundel) was in Winchester last month and, as you get to know Nick, I think you will see a DEFRA Secretary who understands rural areas and cares about them a great deal.”

Agenda for Rural Action – The rural economy

• Respect rural people by giving rural communities a voice to decide their own future and only seek to regulate where self-regulation fails;
  
  
• Give power to rural communities, by shifting power and decision-making to communities, so that people have a genuine say over the matters that affect them locally;
  
  
• Protect rural services, by considering social value alongside environmental and economic value. Will work with the Grant Shapps team to address the lack of affordable housing through growth which reflects the wishes of local communities, and help rural communities protect the countryside they cherish from development imposed by central government. See more here.
  
  
• Revive the rural economy, by reducing the barriers to business growth and creating incentives for rural development.  We will work with Ken Clarke’s team to revive the rural economy, by reducing the barriers to business growth and creating incentives for rural development.  Policies range from Nationwide superfast broadband by 2017 to making small business rate relief automatic and removing the bar on people running businesses from council owned properties. See more here.
  
  
• We will work with Michael Gove and the Schools team; our Swedish style education reforms are truly radical and exciting and could pave the way for the return of the village school.  See more here.
  
  
• Many local people will know the work that has gone on and the interest I have taken alongside local Conservative councillors when it comes to our community facilities and Post Offices.  Our plan to give the Post Office a fighting change in the modern world is critical because when the PO closes very often so does the last shop in the village. Our ‘Community Right to Buy’ proposals are an exciting innovation.

Rural communities need a thriving farming industry - but Britain’s farmers have endured a tough time, faced with animal diseases and excessive regulation.

They need a government that works with them, not against them. So we will:

• Overhaul farming regulations to lift the burden of unnecessary paperwork and inspections;
  
  
• Press for reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy which reflect the importance we attach to the environment, the long-term sustainability of UK farming and the relief of global poverty;
  
  
• Make it easier to buy British by improving food labelling with our Honest Food Campaign;
  
  
• Use public procurement to strengthen the link between food grown in our fields and the meals served in our schools and hospitals.

Steve Brine adds; “This co-operation will be crucial in tackling climate change and the threats to our food security – and it will help to rebuild the broken bond of trust between rural communities and the government.”

* See news of Nick Herbert’s visit to Winchester in January 2010 here.

* Take a look at Nick Herbert’s page on conservatives.com and watch him launch our Rural Action campaign here.

* Visit the Conservative Rural Action website via www.conservativeruralaction.com

• Let’s give everyone superfast broadband