Last Friday, after a busy day of visits, meetings and my advice surgery in Penrith, I went home to Brampton via Hutton in the Forest, having dropped in on the Skelton Show volunteers and their final preparations. Due to the conditions, I was nervously looking forward to coming back the next day to the wonderful community event so many across our patch enjoy. The weather had been poor and my anticipation turned to sadness the next morning as further heavy rain overnight led to the show’s cancellation. I am so sorry for all those involved as I know how hard everyone had worked and how much folk were looking forward to the show.
Once my sadness subsided, I began reflecting on my role representing such a hugely rural constituency where both agricultural events and adverse weather are the norm. Penrith and The Border is the largest and most sparsely populated constituency in England, and while I adore walking our rivers and peaks in peace with my family and dog Juno, I’m increasingly aware of just how unique our part of the world is.
Being privileged to travel up and down to Westminster from the constituency each week, I can’t help but notice the massive differences between the constituency I represent and those that many of my colleagues do. Cumbria is not London and decision makers really need to grasp this if we are going to see Levelling Up work for the whole country. Bringing rural issues to the table has been one of my main focuses since being elected and this month was no different. On that note, I could not be happier to formally support our £8 million Eden bid to the Government’s Levelling Up Fund to build a rural enterprise hub right here in Penrith and The Border. I will keep banging the drum on this and am urging the Government to support our bid.
I have also launched a petition to find solutions for the problem of post-16 transport. As it stands youngsters must stay in education or training until they are 18 but are not entitled to transport after they turn 16. This clearly penalises young people for living in rural areas in Cumbria such as Alston Moor, where I’ve heard from young folk that they are being lumped with eyewatering travel bills or forced to make negative life changing decisions and not go on to the next stage of their education. This cannot be right, so backed by around 1,000 signees, I stood up in Parliament and questioned the Education Minister on the issue. You can find my petition at neilhudson.org.uk; please consider signing and help secure a brighter future for our young people.
To make sure rurality is not a barrier, we need joined up thinking across the package of issues facing remote communities such as ours. As well as transport, housing is another major problem. One that has come into sharp relief through the pandemic is the issue of holiday lets pricing local people out of the market. That is why I was so pleased that the Government has listened to me and launched a review into short-term tourist accommodation after I’ve long fought for fairer housing in tourist hot-spots such as those in Cumbria. I’ve spoken time and again to people affected by the issue, from families who can’t afford adequately-sized homes to businesses struggling to hire due to a lack of available properties for new staff – that is why it is imperative you make your voices heard and engage with the review online: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/developing-a-tourist-accommodation-registration-scheme-in-england or by emailing [email protected]
Another challenging issue facing rural communities is that of mental health. As some of you will know, I triggered our Commons EFRA Select Committee, on which I sit, to do an Inquiry into the topic, with a particularly moving evidence session exploring suicide prevention and mental health services in rural areas recently taking place. It was equally challenging as it was rewarding as we heard from experts about the lack of reliable data on rural mental health, the specific rural stresses that can lead to increased mental health issues and the barriers that prevent people from areas such as ours accessing help. One such expert was Dr Tim Sanders who, as well as being a Clinical Lecturer in Rural Medicine, is also a GP working in Eden. It’s always great to hear about Cumbria in Parliament but this time was bittersweet with Tim’s harrowing experiences of an Eden farmer who lost his flock to rising floodwater, leaving the farmer reeling from much more than the financial cost.
To finish on a brighter note, recently I had the pleasure of being at the Festival of Nature at Talkin Tarn and I also had an amazing time at the Cumberland Show celebrating all the best bits of country life, and even getting to see Penrith YFC win the tug of war! I also saw two cracking community initiatives that I have worked closely on with communities, namely Kirkoswald villagers’ new internet connecting going live thanks to not-for-profit providers B4RN and Bampton’s community owned pub, The Mardale Inn being saved and opening its doors after almost four years. And what a pleasure as the local MP to be able to do the honours and pull one of the first pints!
