Day one of ruralnet|2006 ended with a twist on the usual format of the panel session, with panellists James Paice MP and John Mills, Rural Policy Director, Defra being the ones asking the questions on rural housing - a controversial subject and also a hot topic of the moment.
The Rural Affordable Housing Commissioner, Peter Bradley did an excellant job of pitting the panel against the audience, with questions flying in both directions.
Peter started the ball rolling by asking: 'how important is it to provide housing for young people in order to keep them in the countryside areas?' and 'how can young people aspire to going from renting to home ownership?'
Turning the normal panel format on its head, the audience answered many of the questions posed by the panel, although at one point James Paice MP (Cons), Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs received a grilling from an audience member with a tricky question: should those with second homes in rural areas pay more tax!
From there onwards, issues as varied as developing greenfield sites to the community land based model to second home ownership were all batted back and forth.
The session ended on a positive note with comments about the role of communities and the emphasis on their needs in the way of housing.
The presentations from this session are available on the ruralnet|2006 conference area of ruralnet|online.
Delegates will need your ruralnet|online login details and password. If you have forgotten or mislaid them, email support@ruralnet.org.uk or call 0845 130 5480.
If you did not attend the conference but would like to access presentations and more from this year's conference visit www.ruralnet.org.uk/join.htm for your free 14-day trial of ruralnet|online.
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