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He said: \u201cThe trends are ever changing \u2013 the fate of the rural economy is to a large extent determined by the intersection of central government policy and local authority delivery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRural areas are different as it covers vast geographic areas that are sparsely populated, whereas urban areas are more condensed in terms of developments and populations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Think about policing – it is far more challenging to patrol a vast geographic area, than a city area. The same principle applies to infrastructure such as digital connectivity and transport.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The CLA say that if passed, the Devolution Bill could benefit rural communities by handing power from the central government to local authorities made up of the community who know their area best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill, which was originally announced on July 10 this year, is currently making its way through the House of Commons after having completed its second reading stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Geertsema said: \u201cThe CLA has long argued for narrowing the gap between urban and rural economies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLocal authorities that are largely rural, like North Yorkshire, generally are better at understanding rural issues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rural communities continue to see a heightened number of \u2018vital services\u2019 like bus routes being scrapped, with seven councils mentioned in the report all declaring a number of bus routes had been stopped in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The CLA put forward a six point plan in an attempt to address the issues rural businesses face, and to call for greater steps from the government to be able to effectively support them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This included calling on more to be done about tackling rural crime, as well as investment in the countryside’s infrastructure, particularly in regards to adequate public transport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Geertsema warned that without swift action, rural areas risked entering a \u201ccontinuing spiral of decline.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Research carried out by the Country Land & Business Association has shown that thousands of pubs, shops and other small businesses have shut down in rural areas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":266,"featured_media":2115,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,18],"tags":[32,347,346,238,350,341,349,40,348,56],"class_list":["post-2110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-infocus","tag-business","tag-cla","tag-country-land-and-business-association","tag-countryside","tag-devolution-bill","tag-east-riding","tag-government","tag-north-yorkshire","tag-rural-business","tag-yorkshire"],"yoast_head":"\n