Views sought on rural life
Shropshire Council is encouraging local residents living in rural areas to make their voices heard at national level, by completing a short online survey.
The survey is being carried out by the Rural Services Network (RSN), which campaigns for a fair deal for rural communities. It is aimed at any individuals aged 15 and over, and closes at midnight on July 23.
The RSN would like as many responses as possible so that it can get a wide selection of views representing rural areas. The aim is also to set up a panel of people to be contacted from time to time about their opinions and experiences.
A £10 Amazon voucher is also on offer to 10 respondents chosen at random after the closing date, from those who indicate they are happy to be part of such a panel.
Joyce Barrow, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for communities, said: “It would be very helpful for the voices of Shropshire residents to be heard through this national survey. Our county is one of the most sparsely populated rural councils in the country.
“The findings will be shared with national government, and should be very useful at this time of change. I would therefore very much like to encourage local people to complete the survey, which asks about issues such as education, health, housing, rural crime, and transport.”
The council is asking elected councillors as community leaders to complete the survey themselves, as well as circulating it to officers. Preparations are also being made by the council to encourage parish councils, town councils, and voluntary and community sector involvement in the consultation, and through them facilitate and seek the views of local communities.
For this survey, the RSN is working with research partners at the University of Gloucestershire. Its findings will be brought to the attention of the Government and national policy makers.
The council has been assured that information provided in this questionnaire will be used for research purposes only. It will not be used in a manner that would allow identification of individual responses, nor are any questions being asked that would allow individuals, or their household, to be identified.
To complete the survey go to https://glos.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/rsnruralsurvey
