LIKE many counties across England and Wales there is a struggle to prevent industry marching across rural counties.

Those of us lucky enough to attend h.energy’s Creating a Sustainable Economy in Herefordshire at the Bishop’s Palace heard speaker Richard Priestley of Global Solutions reporting on small rural communities who have successfully regenerated their economy, with low impact to the environment – proving that it is possible, while supporting all types of industry.

Collectively, passionate speakers, local businesspeople, shared their inspiration and actions supporting regeneration that benefits a whole community, and I would recommend everyone to listen to their vision.

If our community could adopt a common goal and accept what is achievable in the given spatial environment without causing damage, then it would be more likely the community could move forward cost effectively and without radical changes.

By adopting their ethos we could collectively protect countryside and tourism, managing the growth of passive houses and businesses in rural communities.

Jonathan Hines introducted a topic on the local manufacture of new build, with sustainable prefabrication and sustainable running costs.

Could we move to re-evaluate public transport to protect the wellbeing of children and working parents? Should we look to Gloucester Quays and ask about its success? Or review a development brief written several years ago that appears not to have been adapted to manage the current climate change?

Looking for a symbol? Just as the Mappa Mundi charted a new world, educating us, so does sustainability.

Can we look towards local artists?

Works by Andrea Mclean exhibited in the British Museum or Pierre Williams’ untitled figures (exhibited at the Affordable Art Fair, London) evoke thought, strength and beauty. Should creative expression represent the county, just as Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North is instantly known?

Can we run wild and envisage ‘a figure of strength, depicting imagery of all type of industries, nude, holding high an international sphere, on a plinth carrying historical names and events that mapped Herefordshire?

ANNA SNELL,

Park Street, Hereford.