Last orders for village life as 900 pubs shut: Statistics show key services disappearing at 'an alarming rate'

 

 

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 4:16 AM on 18th September 2010

 

• Comments (70)
  
• Add to My Stories
  

 

Traditional village life is 'dying out', say housing and pub campaigners, after it was revealed that almost 900 country inns were forced to close last year.

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) said 893 village pubs were forced to call last orders for good in 2009.

And statistics show that key services are disappearing from village life 'at an alarming rate', said the National Housing Federation.

 

Dying out: Over 890 village pubs were forced to close for good last year

 

About 400 village shops closed in 2008 while rural schools shut down at the rate of one a month in England between 1997 and 2008, said the organisation, which represents England's housing associations.

It said the closures reflected a declining demand for services in villages where local families had been priced out by wealthy commuters, pensioners and second-home owners, as well as too few new homes being built.

 

More...

 

 

• Poor must accept benefit cuts: Clegg on collision course with own party by backing welfare axe
  

 

Federation chief executive David Orr said: 'The cornerstones of traditional village life, such as the local school, the shop and the pub, are disappearing from the rural landscape at an alarming rate.

'Rural towns and villages need to have mixed, working communities, otherwise there is a very real danger our countryside will become little more than a theme park for weekenders.

'While there is a range of issues at play here, affordable housing lies at the centre of the battle to save traditional village life.

'Unless we build more affordable homes for local people, they will continue to be priced out of rural areas and services they support will vanish with them.'

Brigid Simmonds, BBPA chief executive, added: 'Along with shops, post offices and schools, village pubs are pivotal to the life of local communities.

'Pubs act as much more than a social venue. They are a focal point for sports teams, local groups and meetings.

'In addition they provide a range of community services like post offices and shops. We need a climate that allows these community businesses to thrive.'

 

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1313160/Last-orders-village-life-900-pubs-shut-2009-key-servcies-disappearing.html#ixzz0ztKMIg3p

Reasons why the "local" pub is 'dying':

1 - The Smoking ban

2 - Price of drinks, why pay £3 for a pint when you can get 3 crates of lager for £20 from Asda

3 - Taxis charging over-the-odds

4 - Did I say the smoking ban?

Hooray for the smoking ban.

Smoking ban sucks...

Out of order...

 

Silly law... has ruined everything, and to honest I think is worse for peoples health

Normally when one goes to the pub, you know or the bar man knows when you have reached your limit, and they send you home.

 

Now people are drinking at home, they think... bugger I can carry on drinking as I dont need to go home anymore.

 

Leaving more hangovers... and more sick days !

Why should people have to work in a smokey environment?

Why should people have to work in a smokey environment?

 

Or sit in it when they are non-smokers?:dozey:

Reasons why the "local" pub is 'dying':

1 - The Smoking ban

2 - Price of drinks, why pay £3 for a pint when you can get 3 crates of lager for £20 from Asda

3 - Taxis charging over-the-odds

4 - Did I say the smoking ban?

 

Also more and more people are abandoning life in the country and moving to the big towns and cities. These days small local country villages are largely filled with retired individuals or holiday makers. It's a shame really.

Also more and more people are abandoning life in the country and moving to the big towns and cities. These days small local country villages are largely filled with retired individuals or holiday makers.

 

Or hoodies!:P

Also more and more people are abandoning life in the country and moving to the big towns and cities. These days small local country villages are largely filled with retired individuals or holiday makers. It's a shame really.

 

It might be like that up in Scotland, but in the South more people whom work in London move out of the city to the country, where they commute to London on the trains every morning, this village also has it's fair share of retired people (both due to old-age and being lottery winners).