Reaching out to local communities
Resources and Downloads
- User and Community Co-Production of Services - A Position Paper by Cambridgeshire ACRE and CPALC
- Rural Issue Paper 5 - Rural Voice and Community Engagement
- Rural Issue Paper 4 - Rural Poverty and Deprivation
- Rural Issue Paper 3 - Rural Economy and Skills
- Rural Issue Paper 2 - Community Buildings
- Rural Issue Paper 1 - Affordable Housing
- Cambridgeshire Together Rural Strategy - Countywide Consultation Summary Report
- South Cambridgeshire Rural Strategy Workshop Report
- Huntingdonshire Rural Strategy Workshop Report
- Fenland Rural Strategy Workshop Report
- East Cambridgeshire Rural Strategy Workshop Report
- Cambridgeshire Together Rural Strategy - Summary of Evidence
- Cambridgeshire Together Rural Strategy - Evidence Base
Achieving Strategic Influence
Improving Rural Services
There is a downward trend in the provision of most services in rural communities. Research suggests the rural retail network (estimated at approximately 57,000 rural shops in England), is steadily contracting by between 300 and 500 village shops each year. Cambridgeshire is a predominantly rural county and, as such, access to services in many areas is poor.
Cambridgeshire ACRE has used its vast network of contacts to draw together a group of interested stakeholders to consider how Cambridgeshire should address this trend. The resulting partnership of public, private, business and voluntary and community sector organisations aims to identify and address issues affecting rural services in Cambridgeshire, focusing on the needs of communities and businesses.
In July 2007, the Group published a short-term support strategy for post offices, which set out the practical actions that it intended to take to manage the impacts of the planned post office closures.