Rural watchdog needed to address broadband issues

It has been claimed that a rural watchdog is now needed to urgently address issues with broadband that are experienced by those in the UK’s rural areas.

It has been claimed that a rural watchdog is needed in order to deal with issues experienced by people living in the rural parts of Wales when it comes to broadband access. The Assembly Government does include a Rural Affairs Minister, but the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales (CPRW) wants to see more done, and wants the appointment of a ‘rural advocate’ who can advise the First Minister on issues relating to the countryside.

The group said that the majority of Wales came under rural local authority areas, and therefore needed to be represented fully. The role of the person appointed would include being directly accountable to the First Minister, scrutinise the performance of the Assembly’s promises when it came to rural areas, and monitor their effectiveness.

A range of issues have been highlighted that need to be addressed in rural parts of Wales. One official from the group said: “Rural communities are often denied parity because they are characterised by isolation, poor communication, inadequate service provision, low wages, less disposable incomes, increased costs, a lack of affordable housing and limited job opportunities. It is imperative that any future sustainable agenda of the next Assembly Government has a clear, comprehensive and distinctive rural dimension. The rural environment contributes £9bn annually to the Welsh economy. And the countryside provides work for one in six people in Wales.”

He added: “All of Wales’ internationally iconic landscapes are in rural areas yet some of the most economically and socially deprived areas of the UK exist within close proximity to them. And the uplands of Wales hold the key to helping to solve our climate change challenge, with huge amounts of carbon locked up in the woodlands, peat and organic soil. Rural areas provide most of the basic life-support services upon which urban populations in Wales and beyond depend. The needs and voice of rural communities and the identity of the places in which they live must be decisively and democratically expressed within and by the Welsh Assembly Government.”

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Source – Wales Online