Challenges for the rural West Midlands:
What is a sustainable rural community?
Christine Doel
October 2007

What is a “sustainable community”?
“Sustainable communities are places where people want to
live and work, now and in the future. They meet the
diverse needs of existing and future residents, are
sensitive to their environment, and contribute to a high
quality of life. They are safe and inclusive, well planned,
built and run, and offer equality of opportunity and good
services for all”
Securing the Future: Delivering UK Sustainable Development
Strategy, 2005

“Sustainable communities”: An urban paradigm?
 Concept of sustainable communities has been applied in
particular contexts:
 substantial new development and/or new settlements,
particularly in Growth Areas and Growth Points
 in the context of wider agendas relating to urban renaissance…
“sustainable living is urban living”
 But where does this leave rural areas, settlements and
communities?
 Is there such a thing as a “sustainable rural community”?

Sustainable rural communities: compound challenges
Services Services
Mobility? ?
Homes Jobs Homes Jobs
• Quality of life for the individual? • Quality of life for the individual?
• Sustainability of rural communities? • Sustainability of rural communities?

Policy responses
Two key themes from Defra:
 productivity
 access to services
Studies completed for AWM:
 analysis of data – mainly at district level – on the performance of
rural areas, focusing especially on the productivity drivers
 detailed analysis of Census data – particularly travel to work
patterns amongst different occupational groups – for 16 market
towns from across the region
 development – with partners – of a rural accessibility to services
framework

Key indicators of economic performance
Proportion of
VAT
WAP with Workplace Resident Earnings
LAD registrations
LAD Level 4+ earnings, Earnings, gap,
classification per 10,000
qualifications, 2006 (£) 2006 (£) 2006 (£)
WAP, 2005
2005
Rural-80 average 25.6% 65.2 27,243 30,902 -3,659
Oswestry 17.5% 52.9 21,684 21,397 287
Rural-80
South Shropshire 21.9% 62.8 18,444 23,104 -4,660
Bridgnorth 35.2% 53.7 17,435 24,270 -6,835
Rural-50 average 25.5% 56.0 25,534 26,590 -1,056
Herefordshire 26.2% 61.4 20,428 20,000 428
Rural-50
Malvern Hills 35.8% 66.8 21,427 25,763 -4,336
North Warwickshire 21.1% 45.1 23,392 21,728 1,664
W Mids - All Rural 56.8
26.0% 26,212 28,405 -2,193
West Midlands 45.7
23.0% 26,197 26,270
England 26.20% 30,097 30,171
51.0
Sources: LFS/APS, VAT Registrations/Deregistrations, ASHE
NB. Earnings data for Bridgnorth is 2005

Implications arising from – and limitations of – district-level
data
 Variation within the LAD
classifications often
greater than between
 South Shropshire &
Oswestry both Rural-80
LADs, but so is Stratford-
on-Avon
 Herefordshire & North
Warwickshire both Rural-
50
 Aggregated data by LAD
classification should be
used with caution
 Implications in terms of
Defra’s targets

Insights from real places – market towns
14
Mean distance travelled to work in the
Coleshill
12
Free-standing towns
Alcester serving rural hinterlands
10
Southam Uttoxeter Leominster
settlement (km)
Ludlow
8
Newport Ross-o-W
Oswestry
6 Stourport-o-S Whitchurch Kington
Cheadle
Church
Bewdley Evesham
Stretton
4
Towns with moderate
Towns with high dependence
dependency on larger
2 on nearby urban centres
nearby settlements
0
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
Self-containment (%)

Spatial dimensions
 Emerging market towns
typology has a distinctive
geography…
 Are towns in the west of the
region more sustainable
than those further east?

Additional perspectives: modes of travel for different
settlement types across the West Midlands
Working
Public Car or Foot or
Rural-urban from
trans. m/bike bicycle
home
typology
Less
9.8% 2.7% 64.9% 22.6%
sparse
Urban
Sparse 7.6% 12.0% 67.7% 12.4%
Less
10.0% 4.4% 74.7% 10.6%
sparse
Town &
Fringe
Sparse 11.7% 3.3% 59.2% 25.4%
Less
15.2% 2.9% 73.5% 8.0%
sparse
Village
Sparse 21.5% 2.3% 67.5% 8.0%
Less
Hamlet 22.6% 2.3% 68.7% 5.8%
sparse
&
Isolated
Sparse 30.8% 1.5% 60.5% 6.2%
Dwelling

A paradigm for a sustainable rural community?
 Perhaps…
 But what does self containment and a high incidence of
home-working really mean?
 Scenario A: Quality of life aspirations satisfied locally and a
lifestyle choice to work from home, probably using ICT
connectivity? PLUS economically active people around during
the day, solving the “dormitory settlement syndrome” and
generating social capital to build communities, etc.
Or
 Scenario B: Few options, low quality jobs locally and poor
access to those further afield, working from home as a survival
strategy, isolation, exclusion and probable disadvantage?

When and why access to services matters
Access to services per se
does not always matter…
Services
…metrics of accessibility
are unhelpful
?
…although it may matter
greatly, both for
Homes Jobs
individuals and
communities

Framework for rural accessibility to services
Aim: Improving access for those most in need to services and
opportunities which will make the greatest difference to their lives
People:
Which groups of
Services: people are at
particular risk of
What kinds of services
exclusion in rural
/ opportunities make
parts of the West
the greatest difference
Midlands?
to people’s lives?
Places:
In what kinds of places are issues
arising? What is the spatial backdrop?

What is a “sustainable rural community”?
“Sustainable communities are
places where people want to live
and work, now and in the Services
future. They meet the diverse
needs of existing and future
residents, are sensitive to their
environment, and contribute to a
Community
high quality of life. They are safe and
and inclusive, well planned, built mobility?
and run, and offer equality of
Homes Jobs
opportunity and good services
for all”
Securing the Future: Delivering UK
Sustainable Development Strategy,
2005

Contact
Christine Doel
Director
SQW Consulting
t. 01223 209400
e. cmdoel@sqw.co.uk
w. www.sqw.co.uk