RURAL communities are being asked to say what they want from the next government.

In what is expected to be the biggest ever manifesto consultation process, the Rural Services Network is highlighting the need for better services in the countryside.

The group of over 250 public and private sector service providers will launch its consultation paper on Monday (27 July).

Published to coincide with the run-up to the expected 2010 general election, the paper can be downloaded here (450kb pdf).

It is the first step on the road to a rural manifesto, which the network will publish this autumn.

Political parties must give a fair deal to people living in the countryside, says the consultation paper.

Funding problems mean rural residents often enjoy a lower standard of service that urban dwellers, it adds.

The paper focuses on ten key areas of concern for the countryside:

• Rural proofing – designing policies that don’t harm the countryside
• The rural economy after the recession
• Supporting rural communities
• Central government funding formulae
• Safeguarding small rural schools
• Affordable rural housing
• Healthcare in the countryside
• Rural transport and safer roads
• Digital Britain in the countryside
• Fuel poverty in the countryside

Network chief executive Graham Biggs said: "The consultation paper provides an important opportunity for all people in the countryside to start to make their voices heard."

Views received will be fed into the rural manifesto that the network intends to publish this autumn, Mr Biggs said.

"The threat to rural schools, the lack of affordable housing and the high cost of living in the countryside are among the issues we expect people will want to raise.

"As we face an unprecedented period of public spending restraint, it is essential that metropolitan policy-makers are reminded that the needs of the countryside are often very different to those of the city.

"Many services survive on a shoestring, which means that even small cuts can seriously undermine them."

Submissions can be made by downloading the consultation paper (450kb pdf) and emailing responses to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The consultation closes on Wednesday 30 September 2009.

Responses will then be collated so the manifesto incorporates the widest range of thinking ahead of its publication in November.

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