Affordable homes are key to saving schools

12:33pm Thursday 13th March 2008

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A SENIOR government advisor has said the key to keeping Herefordshire's rural schools and communities alive lies with affordable housing.

Speaking during a visit to Shobdon Primary School, the chairman of the Commission for Rural Communities, Dr Stuart Burgess, said more needed to be done to develop village communities through housing provision.

"Herefordshire is a beautiful county to live in but affordable housing is a major problem and these homes are the essence of rural schools.

"With regard to the worries over school closures, everybody realises education in rural areas is quite a complex matter but the government has said it will only close rural schools as a last resort.

"Here at Shobdon, there is a wonderful community feel. There is new housing going up and the school intake for September is up on this year."

A part of Shobdon School that impressed Dr Burgess was its main hall which doubles up as the village hall - an idea he would like to see repeated elsewhere.

"This is a great example of community involvement," he said. "I think establishments like the church could do more to support its community in this way, for example housing a village post office, if only for two or three mornings a week."

Also high on his agenda was trying to entice young adults back to Herefordshire following the completion of their university studies.

"We have to be realistic and say that many young people will leave the county, mainly for higher education," he said. "But we must ensure they have the option to return, which brings us back to the provision of affordable housing.

"There are many good things happening in Herefordshire - many vibrant communities and a lot of potential. But villages need to come up with creative solutions to keep these communities alive."