Young ‘forced out of Shropshire countryside’
Monday 27th December 2010, 11:29AM GMT.
More and more young people are being forced to leave Shropshire because life in rural villages is disintegrating, according to a new investigation.
South Shropshire is the worst affected area, with almost 40 per cent of people aged between 24 and 35 leaving the area in the 10 years to 2007.
New statistics show that there has also been a dramatic increase in the county’s elderly population, putting additional pressure on services. Almost a quarter of the county’s population was over retirement age in 2008, the latest year for which statistics are available. However, that figure is projected to rise significantly.
Campaign to Protect Rural England spokesman Andy Boddington said there was no incentive for young people to stay in Shropshire.
He said: “Low wages, limited work and education opportunities and high house prices mean that too many young people in Shropshire’s rural areas are forced to leave.
“Young people who work in rural communities breathe life into them. They keep our schools alive and help manage our farms and landscapes. They staff the services that holidaymakers and those that retire here need.”
A Shropshire Star investigation has revealed that the closure of schools, shops, pubs and post offices is also contributing to outward migration by youngsters.
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Well, let us just analyse the facts. DEFRA and the rural payments agency put an end to the farming community and the DTI thought the new town of Telford was a good idea (bless their short sightedness)
Given the fact that this county doesn’t have
1/ a port
2/ an airport
3/ a university
4/ a motorway network
Then is it any surprise that the youth of today want to run away from the eye watering stench of lavender wee and over filled colostomy bags?
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Presumably, as well as overlooking the large number of jobs and the boost to the economy that Telford has brought to Shropshire, you have also failed to spot the M54…
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What a load of tripe.
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to be fair zz
Shropshire dose have a university
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He’s got a point about the Port. ( tongue in cheek ) i’m sure Cheshire wouldn’t mind having another ship canal hacked through it..
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@Peter: You do realise the M54 ENDS in Telford..? People living in South Shropshire have to drive the 25 miles + to get on a bloody motorway to actually get anywhere! Not everyone wants to live and work in the awful and ugly chav ridden town that is Telford. No wonder the older generations are moving south, i.e south Shropshire, I don’t blame them.
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The south Shropshire NIMBY’s moan about biomass burners and phone masts. Just imagine the outcry if there was a suggestion of a motorway past Ludlow..
by the way lala, i suggest if you don’t want to come near chav ridden Telford then keep yourself and your banjo in the sticks.
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Middle class Southerners are a large part of the problem. They’re either swamping the area or snapping up property to use as second their homes.
Not content with driving out the local young population – these pushy Southerners have been busy grabbing all the postions in our local councils too.
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maybe because the middle class southerners have more job experience in bigger companies, the local councils see their experience on the cv’s and quite rightly go ooo they look excellent, here have a job
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We left Shropshire 35 years ago, running as fast as we could. There’s a whole world out there and not much of it is in Shropshire.
Decent jobs would have helped. These days, probably fast transport links with Birmingham and Manchester might mean more people can commute from Shropshire and actually come home at night. That might be the way forward.
We’re getting to an age now where moving back seems strangely attractive. A bit impractical, but attractive.
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Brummie Blow-ins
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they’ll be back, its natural to go to the city to seek your fortune and spread your wings as a kind, im shropshire born and bred but i spent my 20′s in London and it was a great experience, saved up lots of money for my first home and got a foot up the career ladder much faster than I would do if i stayed in shropshire, so i think this is natural and sensible and fine and so please lets not use it as an excuse to build ugly council houses in the rolling green countryside
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I concur, David.
I remember as a youth being bored of the countryside…
I also agree that the solution for affordable homes is a no-brainer. It just means “still too expensive for the locals”, and cheaper houses for the second home-buyers and rich city dwellers wanting to “escape to the country”. Seen it all before…
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Who says council housing has to be ugly? what a biased statement and typical sterotyping by ill informed persons with short sightedness, that includes you. I find your comments arrogant and snobish!
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oh please do find an example of a nice pretty council house?? you cant, the public sector cannot build anything decent, fact
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Maybe the 1950′s council housing is not the best but was built at a time of shortage after WWII. Now, however, new council housing is sympathetic to it’s surroundings, just look on the web.
I bet your the type where the glass is half empty?
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the problem is young people dont appreciate the finer things in life like nice views, lack of congestion, fresh air, walking, cycling and real ale BYT… doesnt mean the countryside should be turned into tacky night clubs and disney land for them to enjoy, simply that they should move to shrewsbury/telford and then come back in their 30′s to raise a family when they realise how lucky they are to have access to the shropshire hills
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What does all the things you have listed help in getting the young people jobs? Yes those things are nice but you can find them all elsewhere. Why would they want to move to the jobless towns of the jobless county then move into the middle of the field where there children will experince the same problems… of being lonely in the countryside. Nice place to visit… NOT to live in
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WRONG AGAIN LALA, Shropshire is a nice place to live and work, even Telford. You just need to lighten up and stop being so bitter.
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It’s all well and good blaming high property prices, second home owners etc. But when it is suggested that new affordable housing is built in this county the NIMBY Brigade can’t shout loud enough wih a big fat “NO”.
So are the younger generations to remain between a rock and a hard place until these complainers either move on or pass on?
I would be interested to know………..
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the old people will care more when there is no one left to pick them up and care for them! Imagine Shropshire 2050, average age 55, with half the population over 65 or 75, its just completely unsustainable economically and socially
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Saleem – as 2050 is forty years away, and you are clearly not a child now, I wonder how old you will be at that date? In order not to be burden “economically and socially” presumably you will be moving away quite soon. Older people often have much more disposable income than young families and contribute enormously to local businesses. Stop spouting ageist nonsense!
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People have always moved around for work, it’s why towns and cities have developed and areas of low population have remained so.
Employment for the young in the past living in rural areas was either agricultural or by and large probably working in service in the large country mansions and estates of the gentry.
Shropshire was a county with a very, very low population so there will be very few that can trace their family back for more than a century and of those any with any wit would have moved for work anyway even if they eventually came back. Bear in mind also the changes that have taken place in the boundaries too.
The new industry for this county will be caring for the elderly and selling our English further education system abroad.
Those who choose to live in rural areas should not be molly-coddled at everyone elses’s expense. The fact that they have to pay more for the privilege is something they should counter in when deciding to live there.
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we should be focusing more on the needs of older people, in my opinion, we fought the war after all yet all i hear is youth this, youth that, they dont even pay any taxes, why cant the shropshire star look at poverty in elderly people and the lack of housing they face too
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Yet another biased posting silver surfer. You are making sweeping statements about youth without knowing the facts and worse, you are using the cliche that most people are bored with “I’m a pensioner I should be first”, most recently heard at a hospital queue and rebuked by the receptionist, well done to her.
It should be a fair review to all at the point of access and affordability.
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I’ve been working in Shrewsbury for 3 years, paying taxes, and trying to save for a house. Having seen a lot of people my own age (early 20s) and younger move away because there’s “nothing to do” I can’t say I agree with you.
I have remained here because I quite like the town but I could be earning as much as double my current wage in a similar job in my home-city of Birmingham. Housing is also more affordable there rather than here where even a modest 1 bedroom flat is something like 3 times my annual wage.
Given my situation it’s easy to see why so many young people have moved away. Whenever I read things like this it gets gradually more difficult to see why I haven’t followed.
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us younger ones are paying more tax that ever thank you, fuel, income tax, vat etc we cant buy a house for 50p like you lot did !
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dont think i would like to live here
i have the countryside on my doorstep
and the towns and citys nearby leeds–bradford ect what i do like is the ease of travel no endless traffic all day
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i dont see this is any different from 40 years ago to be honest, we started out with a council house and then bought a one bed flat in telford, and lived in all manner of grotty rental digs for years when we were young, until retirement when we bought a nice place in the country, isnt that just normal? kids today dont appreciate you cant expect to own a 3 bed home over looking the AONB when you;re only 20, get out and earn it and work your way up the ladder like we had to
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Most people are realising that living out in the countryside is not really a good idea when you are older, Adam.
You have a greater need for access to transport, hospitals and support networks.
A delightful view is not worth a draughty older property with more maintenance requirements, higher energy costs and steep stairs.
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So the rationale for the CPRE argument is:
“Young people working in rural communities breathe life into them. They keep our schools alive and help manage our farms and landscapes. They staff the services that holidaymakers and those that retire here need.”
Not a convincing argument for me especially within a “Market Forces” economy. More housing would mean more 2nd home owners and blots on the landscape. If youngsters need to broaden their horizons what’s the problem? Mechanised farming means agriculture is no longer labour intensive. Are youngsters really needed in the tourist industry? Not many I think.
Youngsters good enough for the best universities often do not want to return to the sticks upon graduation – they want more opportunity than our sleepy communities can offer.
Those at the other end of the scale will struggle in today’s world wherever they lay their heads but in large towns they surely have more chance to find something.
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Where is Dawley or Wellington? Easy look for Telford!
Where is Hodnet or Wollerton? Easy look for Market Drayton!
Where is the village baker or butcher? Easy look for supermarkets.
Where are the farms, farmland and farmworkers?
Easy look for the HGVs on the roads and the tin-warehouses.
The conglomerations of townships have destroyed the awareness and pride of heritage identity.
I have never accepted Telford and I mean no disrespect to the great man. Also what has Hodnet or Wollerton to do with Market Drayton?
It is unquestionable that supermarkets provide a service and indeed employment – but for how many locals? The mining and ironworking areas of Telford (that hurts) have been replaced by industrial or commercial tin-sheds – is this really an improvement? I say – the mining and industrial environments were hard and oft below human dignity but local pride and identity were prime (I have encountered this throughout the world when meeting Salopian Ex-Pats – one is never ex-Salopian!).
Are further supermarkets necessary? Would not a re-distribution of the current supermarket services be preferable?
The World can be thankful to Shropshire for the so called “Industrial Revolution” but this must not be exaggerated to encourage the destruction of rural life either in Salop or any other county or indeed country.
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South Shropshire is the worst place I have ever lived – and I am doing everything I can to find work elsewhere and leave. I am currently unemployed – because trying to find decent work with a good wage is impossible.
It is basically a retirement home. I am 38 and all my friends have left – there is nothing here for them. If I hear any more about the ‘precious jewel’ of Ludlow being the finest town in England I will tear my own limbs off. There are far nicer places in England that are not full of snobs convinced they’re landed gentry, coupled with a local gypsy contingent. It’s like the twighlight zone. The retired people are not creating employment, the transport links are appalling, and the locals look like extras from a victorian asylum. I’d rather live anywhere than here.
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