Remote Rural areas

North Norfolk

BrancasterBrancaster

Southwold & Walberswick

North Norfolk - AONB• 40,000 people live here• Most remote & rural part of East Anglia• Sparsely populated areas• 30% pop = elderly• 22% decrease in 16–29 yr olds since 1991• 24% increase in 45 – 69 yr olds• Ageing population – pressure on health care• 47% Suffolk adults don’t have access to a car;

30% N Norfolk adults don’t have driving licences• Low proportion of “affordable” homes• Low proportion of Local Authority homes• c.33% households have incomes below EU

definition of “poverty”

Second Homes• Over 30% of properties in some villages are 2nd

homes (e.g., Brancaster, Cley, Blakeney, Happisburgh etc)

• 15% in AONB as a whole• Most buyers from London & SE• Large proportion are in 40’s & 50’s.• Concern about loss of economically active

population• Source:

http://www.northnorfolk.org/planning/documents_forward_planning/Three_Dragons_-_Executive_Summary.pdf

“We are a local agency specialising in the letting of around 120 of the best holiday cottages - mostly much-loved second homes in the North Norfolk coastal area…” Quote from www.north-norfolk-holidays.co.uk

Housing problems

Housing stock Brancaster N Norfolk

% owner occupied 32.5 25

% second homes 34.6 7.2

Average house price (2003-4)

£351,000 £170,000

Population

% households with at least 1 pensioner

61.8 48

% households with income below £20k

37.4 38.2

Consequences• Communities at risk - Negative multiplier• Southwold & Walberswick – “Hampstead on Sea”• Southwold: 1,250 properties – 450 are second homes or

holiday lets• Local pub – “fancy eatery”• Local shops now antique shops/boutiques. Other shops

& services close – do not meet thresholds (seasonal)• Decline in local school population• Local waste collection/transport have fluctuating demand• Social divide – resentment between locals & incomers• Community sustainability threatened• Property-rich, community-poor• http://www.exploresouthwold.co.uk/

Solutions?• Create sustainable communities• Provide homes – use Govt’s Exception Policy & a Rural

Housing Enabler, ie, can build on land where it’s not normally allowed in rural villages with proven housing needs

• Provide affordable homes - if are connected to village by birth, have lived there for some years, work in the village.

• Community transport – Bittern Community Rail Partnership (subsidised)

• Vital Villages Programme administered by East of England Development Agency – dial-a-minibus, flexible routes, post & deliveries, medi-bus…

• Provide jobs – diversify agriculture, eg, pick-your-own; recreational farms, open farms, farmers’ markets etc…

• Develop tourism – more jobs, can be year-round (Center Parcs in Thetford Forest); but just swapping low-paid, low-skilled jobs in farming for similar in tourism?

• Tackle social exclusion – Objective 2 funding for areas with declining industries. Create new jobs so keep young people in area

Cloke’s Index• People moving to E

Anglia do not depend on the countryside for their living – area becomes less rural, ie, its rurality declines

• Cloke devised index to show how rural (or urban) an area is

• See this link – loads of additional resources:

• http://www.geographypages.co.uk/a2ruralurban2.htm

• Indicators used: • Female population aged 15

– 45• Occupational structure• Pop change 1961 -71• No people working outside

settlement• Distance from urban area of

50,000+• Pop over 65• Household amenities• Pop density• Inward migration in previous

5 yrs

Homework

• From the specimen:

• Explain why the social structures of rural settlements are changing

Second Home Issues

• http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3466783.ece

• http://cymuned.net/blogsaesneg/?page_id=22• http://www.wales4sale.com/• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/612

8218.stm• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/1790896.stm• http://www.assetsure.com/news-21b0907.htm• http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/news/022002/25/dar

tmoor_homes.shtml