DECLINING services, high house prices and the threat of school closures… looks at the increasing threat to Kent’s rural way of life.

The county's rural areas face meltdown if the present flight from town to countryside continues, according to the 2006 State of the Countryside Report, published by the Commission for Rural Communities.

The Country Land and Business Association claims the findings demonstrate that unless the Government introduces new policies, the countryside and its communities are not sustainable.

The CLA’s South East regional director Rupert Ashby said: "If the 25-year projection for migration to the countryside from urban areas is correct - a growth of 18 per cent compared with six to nine per cent in urban areas - then the resultant influx will lead to the collapse of the rural infrastructure in the South East.

"We are already seeing the signs. The average age of people living in rural communities is increasing as people retire to their dream home."

Ironically, this means higher house prices which drives out young families as it reduces the needs for schools. This is highlighted by the decline in public services and the closure of local post offices and shops.

Launching the report, the prime minister’s rural advocate, Dr Stuart Burgess, said: "Many rural areas still lag behind urban England.

"The proportion of low income households in the most sparsely populated areas has increased from 26 per cent to 30 per cent and the gap between wages in the most urban and the most rural areas now averages £130 per week."

Among the key findings

In 2003/4 predominantly rural districts experienced a net inward migration of 105,000; in 2000/1 the equivalent figure was 80,000.

In 2002 over 40 per cent of house purchases in the sparsely populated areas were for cash. Between 2003 and 2005 housing completions in the most rural areas fell by four per cent; in the most urban areas they increased by 28 per cent.

In 2005 the average house price in rural hamlets was approximately twice that in urban settlements.

Across England as a whole 47 per cent of cash points are fee-paying; in rural villages the figure is 85 per cent. The rate of male suicides aged 16 to 24 in rural districts is almost 50 per cent greater than in urban areas.

The average cost per head of out-of-hours health cover in rural areas is 74 per cent greater than in urban areas.

The proportion of people in hamlets experiencing power cuts is more than twice the urban percentage; the proportion experiencing phone service breakdowns is 250 per cent greater.

People in rural areas travel almost twice as far each year as those in towns. Between 1999 and 2004 the percentage increase in traffic on rural trunk/principal roads was 11 times greater than on urban roads.

On the positive side

In rural hamlets and villages 38-48 per cent of people have been involved in a local organisation, compared with 26 per cent in towns.

In hamlets 76 per cent of people voted in the last general election, compared with 64 per cent in towns.

Between 2000/1 and 2004/5, according to the British Crime Survey, violent crime fell by 24 per cent in rural villages and hamlets, 15 per cent in rural towns, and 14 per cent in urban settlements.

Economic health

In the sparsely populated areas of England about a quarter of all residents receive the state pension. In 2005 working age unemployment in most rural districts was 3.2 per cent; in most urban areas 6.2 per cent. Self-employment in rural hamlets and villages is two to three times more frequent than in the main urban areas.

Home-working is more prevalent in rural areas. At the time of the 2001 census 16 per cent of the economically active rural population (881,000) were classified as home-workers.

In predominantly rural districts the number of manufacturing businesses has grown over the last decade; in urban areas the number has fallen.

Land use

Agriculture uses 74 per cent of England’s land area. However, one quarter of farm businesses make a loss on farming operations, an increase of seven per cent over last year.

In the first three months of 2006 the number of calls to the Farm Crisis Network helpline increased by 65 per cent over the same period in 2005.

UK farming provides about three quarters of the indigenous food consumed in the UK and about 60 per cent of all food consumed.

In 2005 the total labour force on farms was 370,000 and 44 per cent worked full-time.