Rural Development in the UK - Case Study Example

Rural Development in the UK Introduction Aberdeen Shire and Aberdeen City are located in Scotland, UK. Aberdeen Shire is known for its historic and primeval legacy. There are numerous rivers in Aberdeen Shire like Carron Water, river Don. Also there are burns like Burn of Muchalls and Burn of Myrehouse. Along the sea cost of the Aberdeen Shire there are bays like, Banff Bay and Thornyhive Bay. Aberdeen City is based near the river site and has choices of rock band. The main land of Scotland is composed of the north third of the land masses of Great Britain that lies in the northwest coastal region of Continental Europe. The climatic condition keeps changing in Scotland as there is temperate and oceanic climate. Scotland has open mixed economy that is similar to that of the European policy. There are many industries in Scotland mainly the ship building in Glasgow, steel industry and coal mines. The Scottish economy is enhanced by the tourism. Scotland has five main international airports. The population as per census report in 2001 was 5062011, that has risen to 5168500 in 2008 June. The Scottish music is the important aspect to the contribution of culture of Scotland. The large urban area is covered by 1972466 of people. Other urban areas are covered by 1483478 people. Accessible small towns have 527748 people where as remote small towns have 133615 people. There are 663166 people in accessible rural area and 281538 people in remote rural area. The proper urban area has 4117307 people where as the proper rural have 944704 people. The total people who are residing in the accessible area numbers to 4646858 people and in the remote area, the people staying are 415153. Looking at the data, one can find that 91.8 percent of the people are mostly residing in the accessible area and 8.2 percent of people are residing in the remote area. 81.3 percent of the people are living in the urban area and 18.7 percent of people are living in the rural area. As per the statistical data of census of 2001, 2629517 females are present in Scotland and there are 2432494 males. The population density council area report as per 2001 census has reported 212125 people are present in Aberdeen City and Aberdeen Shire has the population of 226871. The total area that is covered by Aberdeen City is 18576 hectares and Aberdeen Shire covers 631259 hectares. The reported number of persons per hectare in Aberdeen City is 11.42 and that of Aberdeen Shire is 0.36. Comparison The population of Aberdeen Shire is greater as compared to Aberdeen City. It has 14746 more people residing in Aberdeen Shire. Aberdeen Shire has much more area. It has additional 612683 hectares and as a result even with 14746 additional populations than Aberdeen City, the density of scattered of the population in Aberdeen Shire is 0.36. The additional population is scattered within the extra region (Scottish Government, 2006). Employment Rates by Local Authority Years 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Aberdeen shire 81.4 80.5 79.1 79.7 80.5 81.6 82.6 82.2 82.5 Aberdeen City 76.1 79.6 76.5 76.2 78.9 80.9 79.1 79.4 80.0 (Scottish Government, 2010). As per the data, it is clear that the economic condition of the people those are employed in both the areas and is the underlying source of their purchasing power ability. From this, it is understood that employment has increased and so the purchasing power of the individuals. This increase in the market creates demand for things. Since, both of the areas have been towards better providing of housing facility, the demand for the housing tends to be increasing due to the employment enhancement. For any area, the demand for the services and goods increases through the supply of money and that is possible through better opportunity of employment. While comparing the trend, it depicts the percentage increase and that leading to demand for better services and goods in the area. From 2001-2009 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Increase/ decrease 3.5 -3.1 -0.3 2.75 1.9 -1.8 0.26 0.66 -0.9 -1.4 0.52 0.86 1.11 0.98 -0.4 0.25 There have been increases as well as decreases as well but looking at the year of 2009, it can be observed that it has increased and hope so will continue if the public service in this matter is provided with due importance and better implementation is done for increasing the level of employment and creating demand in the market for services and goods. Housing Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit information by local authority     Council Tax Benefit Housing Benefit Area Number of Households (June 2009) 1 Estimated number of recipients of council tax benefit2 Percentage of Households that receive council tax benefit3 Estimated number of recipients of Housing benefit2 Percentage of Households that receive Housing Benefit3 Aberdeen City 103,438 16,340 16% 15,120 15% Aberdeen shire 102,626 13,020 13% 10,370 10% (Scottish Government, 2010). From the covered data, it can be said that Aberdeen City is more benefited than Aberdeen shire. The percentage of benefit provided to the people from the government is more in Aberdeen City. The housing benefit scheme provided is 5% more in Aberdeen City. 4750 people are more benefited in Aberdeen City than Aberdeen shire. The council tax benefit that received is 3% more in Aberdeen City. 3320 people are benefited in more through the council of tax benefit in Aberdeen City than Aberdeen shire. But comparison to the number of households Aberdeen City has 812 household more than Aberdeen shire. With regard to comparison, the more number of household, more the benefits are provided by the council in terms of council tax benefits and housing benefits. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Information by local authority Tenure of HB recipients   Number of Socially Rented households receiving HB Number of Private Rented households receiving HB % of the Households receiving HB that are Social Renting % of the Households receiving HB that are Private Renting   Aberdeen City 13,790 1,310 91% 9% Aberdeen shire 8,620 1,750 83% 17% (Scottish Government, 2010). The number of households in Aberdeen City is 103,438 and Aberdeen Shire has 102,626 households. 812 households are more in Aberdeen City. In comparison among both the areas, there is more socially rented household in Aberdeen City. The number exceeds by 5170 households. But as per the data, private rented households are more in Aberdeen Shire. The benefit provided by the council in relation to the housing benefit for social renting is more in Aberdeen City than Aberdeen Shire. 8% more benefit for social renting is provided to the people of Aberdeen City. As the private rented household is more in Aberdeen Shire, the benefit provided to them for housing benefit is more as compared to Aberdeen City. 8% more benefit in terms of private renting housing benefit is given to Aberdeen Shire. The overall benefit that is provided is almost same. 8% additional benefit is given by the council to both the areas in different categories. For social renting, the benefit is provided to Aberdeen City and similar 8% benefit is provided to Aberdeen Shire for private renting household.   Number of council areas any stock held in Total self contained units General Sheltered Very sheltered Medium dependency Wheelchair housing Ambulant disabled Other adapted Total non self contained bed spaces Total shared ownership units All units   count units % % % % % % % beds units units/beds Aberdeen Shire Housing Partnership 1 704 92 0 3 1 1 2 1 37 0 741 Aberdeen Soroptimist Housing Society Ltd 1 15 93 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 15 (The Scottish Housing Regulator, 2008). With regards to the data about the Aberdeen Shire and Aberdeen City society for the housing development, the figures show the housing types of both the areas. As comparison to the facts, Aberdeen Shire has more better sheltered houses. The self contained bed space is enhanced in Aberdeen Shire. SC = Self Contained units NSC = Non-self Contained units SO = Shared Ownership units RSL Name SC NSC SO Total Sub-total by Council area units beds units units/beds Aberdeen City 3,999 137 452 4,588 Aberdeen Shire Housing Partnership 704 37 0 741 Ark Housing Association Ltd 50 32 0 82 Cairn Housing Association Ltd 38 0 0 38 Castle hill Housing Association Ltd 487 5 55 547 Grampian Housing Association Ltd 763 0 103 866 Hanover (Scotland) Housing Association Ltd 412 0 3 415 Kin cardine Housing Cooperative Ltd 77 0 0 77 Lang stane Housing Association Ltd 710 4 0 714 Margaret Blackwood Housing Association Ltd 25 0 0 25 Next Step Homes Ltd 2 0 8 10 Tenants First Housing Co-operative Ltd 588 11 0 599 Aberdeen shire 3,856 89 169 4,114 Angus Housing Association Ltd 1,061 0 10 1,071 Ark Housing Association Ltd 14 17 0 31 Bield Housing Association Ltd 146 0 4 150 Cairn Housing Association Ltd 61 0 0 61 Hillcrest Housing Association Ltd 1,371 0 34 1,405 Margaret Blackwood Housing Association Ltd 66 0 0 66 Sanctuary (Scotland) Housing Association Ltd 1 0 0 1 Servite Housing Association Ltd 302 2 10 314 Trust Housing Association Ltd 70 0 0 70 (The Scottish Housing Regulator, 2008). From the data above, the number of corporations present in both the areas and their contribution can be accessed. From this figures, the information gives about the housing stocks details of self contained units, non-self contained units and shared ownership units. RSL Name SC NSC SO Total Sub-total by Council area Units beds units units/beds Aberdeen City 3,999 137 452 4,588 Aberdeen shire 3,856 89 169 4,114 Difference 143 48 283 474 From the figure it is pretty clear that Aberdeen Shire is less developed in terms of housing as compared to Aberdeen City. The shared ownership of houses and self contained are more in Aberdeen City. The difference between the non- self contained is low. But as per the population the difference would have been more but it has minimized in this category. Comparison of Urban and Rural Housing Scottish Housing Regulator- Registered Social Landlord Statistics   Emergency repairs Urgent Repairs Routine repairs RSL Name Target Completed Completed on time Target Completed Completed on time Target Completed Completed on time   (hrs) (no repairs) (%) (days) (no repairs) (%) (days) (no repairs) (%) Rural 13 5,691 95.7 3 11,006 89.9 14 19,187 91.3 Urban less than 500 units 11 5,146 97.7 3 14,955 96.3 10 22,039 95.6 Urban 500 - 1,000 units 7 6,620 98.3 3 12,518 96.5 9 32,738 97.0 Urban more than 1,000 units 7 30,950 96.2 3 71,366 94.3 12 97,623 93.1 Stock transfer less than 1,000 units 5 6,235 98.5 3 5,656 94.8 10 13,072 94.9 Stock transfer with 1,000 or more units 5 76,880 96.0 3 195,043 94.2 14 129,750 92.7 (The Scottish Housing Regulator, 2008). From the data of Scottish Housing Regulator- Registered Social Landlord Statistics, the information about the rural and urban housing stocks differences can be judged from the target taken, completed and the time of completion. Scottish Housing Regulator- Registered Social Landlord Statistics   Emergency repairs Urgent Repairs Routine repairs RSL Name Target Completed Completed on time Target Completed Completed on time Target Completed Completed on time   (hrs) (no repairs) (%) (days) (no repairs) (%) (days) (no repairs) (%) Rural 12.7 5691 95.75 3.1 11006 89.869 14.444 19187 91.3 Urban total 25 42716 292.2 9 98839 287.17 30.73 152400 286 Stock transferred total 10 83115 194.6 5.7 200699 189.05 24.58 142822 188 (Aberdeen City and Shire, 2010). The figure shows the total of the rural housing and the urban housing. Urban development is more but their repairs has less than the rural areas. The government imitative should be towards the development and repairs of the both rural and urban areas. The focus should be towards the priority area. Public sector housing stock as at 31 March       Dwelling type   Total dwellings House All Flats High rise flat Tenement Four in a block Other flat Unknown Scotland 325,648 136,489 176,233 20,937 58,150 64,567 32,579 12,926 Local Authorities 325,648 136,489 176,233 20,937 58,150 64,567 32,579 12,926 Aberdeen City 22,940 5,576 17,364 3,906 9,581 2,315 1,562 Aberdeen shire 12,960 9,117 3,843 - 1,744 1,991 108   Year of construction           Pre-1919 1919-44 1945-64 1965-1982 Post-1982 Scotland 3721 71859 114433 102086 13138 Local Authorities 3721 71859 114433 102086 13138 Aberdeen City 1388 4619 6348 9322 1263 Aberdeen shire 93 2149 3304 5261 2153 (Aberdeen City and Shire, 2010). According to the information, Aberdeen City has more dwellers having high rise flats. The houses are more in Aberdeen Shire. Health Data Health related issue of both the area   Aberdeen shire Aberdeen City Estimated % of population prescribed drugs for anxiety, depression 2004 6 7 Emergency hospital admissions -both sex-aged 65 & over-rate per 100000 population 2008 20610 25849 % of women smoking at booking:2006-2008 17.4 21.4 % vaccinated against MMR 1 by 5 yrs of age: 2008 96 94.7 Hospital admission for alcohol misuse-rate per 100000 population:2001-2004 369.82 805.67 Hospital admission for drugs misuse-rate per 100000 population: 2001-2004 92.43 279.1 (Scottish Government, n. d.) The population of Aberdeen City is more and also the percentages of people are more involved in drugs for anxiety and depression. As per population status of both the areas, Aberdeen City has more people reported to be in the hospital than the people of Aberdeen Shire. Conclusion The economy of Aberdeen City and Aberdeen Shire is mostly subject to oil and gas industries. The local development plans are been made to promote buildings which are carbon neutral. They are identifying areas or technology which can contribute to supply renewable energy. The Scottish government has forecasted the population till 2030 and accordingly, it refers that 40% of the new housing development is required for both the areas. The government is increasing the housing allowances for the development of the society. The structure is as below. Government Policy Housing Allowances   Effective Land Supply 2007 Constrained 2007 - 2016 2017- 2023 2024-2030 Total Aberdeen City 3043 503 16500 10000 9500 36000 Aberdeen shire 9,232 3020 10800 12450 12750 36000 (Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Development Plan Team, 2009). As per such, the government has estimated the requirements of housing that will be required. Housing requirement   2007-2016 2017-2023 2024-2030 Total Aberdeen HMA 19773 12345 11529 43647 Rural HMA 6367 3357 2933 12657 Total 26140   14462 56304 (Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Development Plan Team, 2009). Employment land allocation     Established land 2007 (hectares) Marketable land 2007 (hectares) Minimum land available at all times (hectares) New land allocation 2007-2023 (hectares) Strategic reserve land 2024-2030 (hectares) Aberdeen City 235 53 60 105 70 Aberdeen shire 274 164 60 150 113 Total 509 217 120 225 183 (Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Development Plan Team, 2009). Aberdeen City and Aberdeen Shire are recognized as attractive places with high quality of environment, above the average income level and low rate of unemployment. The government is planning and trying to implement new strategies for the development of both the areas. Only planning and predicting will not solve the problem as the action plan needs to be implemented to improve the standard of the people. The implementation strategy should be towards the objective of the development as per the predicted data. New involvement of the strategy will help the council to develop both the areas. References Aberdeen City and Shire., 2010. Strategic Development Planning Authority. Welcome to the Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Development Planning Authority. Government of UK. [Online] Available at: http://www.aberdeencityandshire-sdpa.gov.uk/home/home.asp [Accessed August 3, 2010] Aberdeen City and Shire., 2010. Strategic Development Planning Authority. Welcome to the Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Development Planning Authority. Government of UK. [Online] Available at: http://www.aberdeencityandshire-sdpa.gov.uk/home/home.asp [Accessed August 3, 2010]. Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Development Plan Team., 2009. Aberdeen City and Shire Structure Plan. Strategic Development Planning Authority. Government of UK. [Online] Available at: http://www.aberdeencityandshire-sdpa.gov.uk/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?lID=423&sID=149 [Accessed August 3, 2010]. Scottish Government., 2006. Social Focus on Urban Rural Scotland. Urban Rural Classifications. Government of UK. [Online] Available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2003/05/17207/22175 [Accessed August 3, 2010]. Scottish Government., 2010. Labour Market. High Level Summary of Statistics Trends - Chart data. Government of UK. [Online] Available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Labour-Market/TrendData/Q/EditMode/on/ForceUpdate/on [Accessed August 3, 2010]. Scottish Government., 2010. Housing Statistics for Scotland - Key Information and Summary Tables. A range of key housing information and summary tables for Scotland and local authority area. Government of UK. [Online] Available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/KeyInfoTables [Accessed August 3, 2010]. Scottish Government., 2010. Housing Statistics for Scotland. A range of key housing information and summary tables for Scotland and local authority area. Government of UK. [Online] Available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/KeyInfoTables [Accessed August 3, 2010] The Scottish Housing Regulator., 2008. Publications and reports. Statistical Tables 2007-08. Government of UK. [Online] Available at: http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/webpages/shr_standardtables.hcsp [Accessed August 3, 2010]. The Scottish Housing Regulator., 2008. Publications and reports. Statistical Tables 2007-08. Government of UK. [Online] Available at: http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/webpages/shr_standardtables.hcsp [Accessed August 3, 2010]. The Scottish Housing Regulator., 2008. Publications and reports. Statistical Tables 2007-08. Government of UK. [Online] Available at: http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/webpages/shr_standardtables.hcsp [Accessed August 3, 2010]. Scottish Government., No Date. Scottish Neighborhood Statistics. Compare 2 Areas report for Local Authority Aberdeen Shire and Local Authority Aberdeen City. Government of UK. [Online] Available at: http://www.sns.gov.uk/Reports/Report.aspx?ReportId=3&AreaTypeId=LA&AreaId=110&AreaTypeIdSecond=LA&AreaIdSecond=100 [Accessed August 3, 2010]. Read More