News that rural primary schools are closing at a rate of one a month has brought a call for action from the Federation of Master Builders. The FMB is pushing for more affordable housing in country areas.

"Schools will continue to close at an alarming rate unless something is done to make the countryside affordable for young families," said Richard Diment, director general of the FMB.

"The fact is that rural housing is increasingly unaffordable for more and more families, driving them out of the communities that they grew up in and jeopardising the future viability of those communities in the process. Creating more affordable rural homes is the best means to keep communities together.

"If the situation continues many, once thriving, rural communities will become mere ghost towns.

"The government needs to radically overhaul the planning system to make it faster and more responsive to local housing needs, prioritise delivery of affordable housing, and incentivise local authorities to deliver more affordable housing directly.

"Unless this happens, we will continue to perpetuate the ridiculous state of affairs we have now where perfectly good infrastructure is mothballed or demolished because lack of affordability robs them of a community to serve, only to make new housing more expensive because it has to contribute to covering the cost of the new infrastructure required to replace what has been lost."