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NORTH EAST RURAL SUMMIT

Overview

Almost 120 participants drawn from local government, universities and the statutory, business, voluntary and community sectors, attended the North East Rural Summit at Slaley Hall on 23 November 2010.  The event was organised and hosted by Staff and Trustees from Community Action Northumberland, Durham Rural Community Council, and Tees Valley Rural Community Council, which together form RuCANNE (Rural Community Action Network North East).  The purpose of the event was to inform and provide participants with an opportunity to respond to the changing landscape of Government policy, and to explore future possibilities for rural areas of the north east.

Keynote speakers presentations

The keynote presentations were delivered by:

Sylvia Brown OBE, Chief Executive of ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England) on 'Rural Challenges and the Big Society'. Please click here to download a copy of Sylvia's presentation (this is a large file which may take several minutes to download).

Professor Mark Shucksmith OBE, Newcastle University addressing the topic 'Austerity Countryside, a North East Perspective.' Please click here to download a copy of Mark's presentation (this is a very large file which may take several minutes to download).

If you have a slow computer connection or experience problems downloading the above presentations, please click here to download a file containing both presentations in pdf format (this is a smaller file and should prove easier to download).

Workshops

The Summit was chaired by Peter Hetherington of The Guardian who challenged delegates to look beyond the gloom of cuts and austerity, in order to chart a new way forward for the rural north.  In particular, participants were asked to consider 'what will the link be between our rural communities and government in the future?'

Following a Question & Answer session with the keynote speakers, participants were invited to attend a choice of two sessions from seminars covering:

• Planning and Housing
• Rural Enterprise and Local Enterprise Partnerships
• Localism
• Do we need a Rural Action Plan for the NE?

Sue Shaw chaired the afternoon session. Action points from the seminars were presented to all participants during the final plenary session.  Delegates then agreed a 'Statement of Intent' which will be sent to Whitehall shortly.  In addition, RuCANNE members offered to take the lead (with support from the North East Rural Affairs Forum) in ensuring that messages from the Summit are heard in the corridors of power.  A series of further meetings will be arranged commencing in January 2011, to progress actions arising from the Summit.

Conference Report

Please click here to download a copy of the Conference Report.

Further information

For more information about ACRE, RuCANNE and the region's three Rural Community Councils, please click on the links below:

ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England)*

Community Action Northumberland (CAN)*

Durham Rural Community Council (DRCC)

RuCANNE (Rural Community Action Network North East)

Tees Valley Rural Community Council (TVRCC)*

(* Please note that these links will take you to external websites.  DRCC is not responsible for the content of external websites).