Rural election issues: Communities

Christine Hope
Post office and village shop owner,
Longtown, Herefordshire

“The key to maintaining rural communities will be for the next government to make sure rural schools remain open.

Second home-owners and holidaymakers are important and without them there wouldn’t be village shops, but schools ensure people stay within a community.

I also want someone in power who’s going to look at ways to help small businesses become viable so they stay open and rural communities have some infrastructure.

For me, the value of administering small transactions is a big issue. Few people pay in cash and on an average basket of £4 you make no profit if people pay with cards. There must be a pre-paid card system so low-value transactions can be paid quickly.

The other thing I want the next government to look at is grant schemes for small businesses so they are beneficial to people who are developing an enterprise.

There are schemes offering £30,000 but they are too large for rural businesses. I know it makes them harder to administer but we need a range of financial help.”