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Issues of Rural Services, Potential Solutions - Coggle Diagram
Issues of Rural Services
Lack of Accessibility
Without a car, as there is little public transport it is very difficult to access most services
General Stats
2008 report shows that nearly half of communities have seen the loss of key local services in the previous 4 years
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1 in 13 rural primary schools have closed since 1997 and more are under threat as schools may lose their funding
233000 people are living in areas with no post office within 1.25 miles, or no bank, building society or cashpoint for 2.5 miles
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Transport
Increased car ownership has devastated public transport isolating the poor, elderly and young
Fear of train closure awakened in 1998 as train lines were potentially going to be replaced by buses
Would be possible however one study showed that only a half at most of former rail passengers used the bus replacements
1 in 5 rural households lack a car and with poor bus services nationally, trains are very important
Housing
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1995 White Paper on Rural development exempted villages with fewer than 3000 inhabitants from the right-to-buy for housing association tenants
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MOD sped up the disposal of their houses as there are 13,00 empty MOD homes
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Infrastructure
Inadequate broadband increases isolation and lack of mobile service can prevent people from getting help in emergencies
Changing demographic
In Scotland the median age is increasing nationally but increasing faster in rural areas with some areas increasing by over 4 years in age over a 10 year period
Potential Solutions
Healthcare
NHS highland received over £1.5 million to develop and test innovative ways of delivering rural healthcare
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Call centres could be used but these lose the advantage of the fact that rural doctors know their patients well
Key villages
Central place theory
Focusing services, facilities and employment in one selected settlement will satisfy the essential needs of the surrounding villages and hamlets.
Devon 1964 -onwards
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Effectiveness
Of the 65 selected villages, depopulation fell and the decline of services was slower