The Heritage Alliance has published Rural heritage under threat: looking after our landscapes post Brexit.
Of the £4.5 billion the UK receives in EU funding each year, some £3.1 billion gets spent on farming of which 80% is spent on ‘Pillar 1’, which simply subsidises farm incomes based on land area. Despite the EU referendum, the majority of the public are not fully aware of how their money currently subsidises farming, what the issues are or how farming could deliver more for society.
People love the countryside. It is a core part of our national and local identities. We want a thriving countryside providing multiple benefits for society: a prosperous rural economy, strong rural communities, recreation, nature and wildlife, physical and emotional wellbeing, beauty, and history.
Most of what we had 50 or 100 years ago has already been lost. For that reason, what remains has been eligible for CAP funding under the rural development programme (RDP), and – where funding has been available – it has been effective. Too often, however, artificial EU boundaries have treated rural heritage separately from the wider environment in which it sits, excluding it from integrated approaches to land management, and limiting funding, efficiency, and effectiveness.
The UK leaving the EU is a chance to find new and better ways of looking after our historic landscapes as part of our wider environment. The paper will inform our forthcoming meeting with Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.