Country Life: What next for rural Britain?

The fly-tipping epidemic, housing explosion, farming’s ‘poor relation’ status and the dangers of over-regulation were among the subjects put under the microscope at the latest sell-out Future Countryside conference, says Country Life magazine in their June 10 issue. 

Coverage in the Country Life article from Julie Harding includes an overview of Simon Jenkins' keynote on defending the countryside from inappropriate development, a dive into the widespread fly-tipping issues that were the focus of Kirstie Allsopp's afternoon keynote discussion (and our joint report with the National Rural Crime Network, Breaking the Cycle: Tackling Fly-Tipping and Waste Crime - A Roadmap for Reform) and soundbites from speakers throughout the day's conference, including Craig Bennett, Rupert Soames, Minette Batters and Matt Ridley. 

"There is such a thing as over-regulation. It does happen, and it’s not harmless. It does stifle innovation and it has perverse outcomes that are bad for Nature.
"Is there a better way? Yes. It’s called outcomes-based regulation. You specify the end, not the means [then you afford] a degree of trust to those who are doing the right thing and a degree of suspicion to those who are [not]" - Matt Ridley, Future Countryside 2026

Read the full article here and read more from Country Life here.

Photo credit: Sarah Caldecott