MEP welcomes Lib Dem pledge to support rural communities

1.20.28pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 26th Sep 2006

County MEP Liz Lynne has welcomed the decision of this year's Lib Dem Conference to support plans which would tackle the problems of public services and affordable housing in rural communities.

Delegates in Brighton called for more visible policing, a stop to Post Office closures, a cut in bureaucracy for farmers and the tourist industry and for more efficient production of biomass and biofuel crops.

Liz Lynne said: "I am so pleased the Liberal Democrats have shown they are committed to helping rural communities meet the big challenges facing them at the moment.

"Bureaucracy and red tape can suck away any of the initiative or positive thinking that could help rural communities while the steady reduction in public services is making living in the countryside harder and harder.

"As the co-president of the European Parliament's Intergroup on Ageing, I am particularly pleased to see the plans look to tackle the problem of poverty faced by elderly people living in rural areas.

ENDS

Editor's Notes

Policy Motion F41 (Rural Communities) was passed by the Liberal Democrat Conference in Brighton on Wednesday, 20th September.