Lycetts and The Field magazine have launched the Young Rural Entrepreneur of 2008 competition. They're looking for a winner who demonstrates entrepreneurial spirit by running a countryside based company or a business making a sustainable contribution to the rural economy.

Posted on: 3rd July 2008, 9:24AM

Stuart Burgess with Roger Turner, head of our Strong and Prosperous Rural Economies programme, meeting Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Posted on: 10th June 2008, 8:39AM

Following the recent BBC report on broadband speeds in the UK, Ofcom has announced that it has launched a programme of independent research to identify the actual speed of broadband around the country.

Posted on: 5th June 2008, 9:01AM

Today's BBC report on broadband speeds in the UK shows there is still a gap between the connection speeds available in urban areas and those available to many rural communities.

Posted on: 3rd June 2008, 9:17AM

The Rural Media Company's Show and Tell DVD about living on a low income in rural areas is now available to order from their website.

Posted on: 29th May 2008, 10:21AM

Yesterday's news from Ofcom that rural areas have higher takeup of broadband than urban areas is welcome. But although take-up is higher, there is still a gap between the connection speeds available in urban areas and those available to many rural communities.

Posted on: 23rd May 2008, 9:59AM

The lessons from the West Durham Rural Pathfinder have been published by Natural England in a series of case studies

Posted on: 10th April 2008, 5:04PM

The Church of England has come up with an innovative solution to help rural communities keep post office services.

Posted on: 27th March 2008, 4:04PM

We welcome Government moves giving local authorities a duty to respond to petitions. We also welcome new powers for councillors to call for local government matters to be refered for consideration by the overview and scrutiny committees of their local authorities.

Posted on: 20th March 2008, 10:43AM

We've responded to the consultation on PPS4: Planning for Sustainable Economic Development.

Posted on: 19th March 2008, 2:49PM