AMT Public

Small towns represent a significant proportion of England’s population

• 1 in 5 people (roughly 11 million) live in one of the 1600 small towns in England – coined ‘the Forgotten Fifth’ by Professor Ray Pahl, Chairman of “Small Towns for Tomorrow”.
• Small towns are defined as having a population size of between 1500 and 40,000.  Many (43%) are at the smaller end of the scale, with less than 3000 population.  Only 4% have over 25,000 population.  The overwhelming majority of rural people live in towns.
• There are 208 rural MPs, 82 of whom are new to the House of Commons.  Conservatives represent 170 constituencies, Labour 21 constituencies and Liberal Democrats 16 constituencies.
• Small towns have disproportionally more older people and high third age inward migration.
• Over 90% of 7 million jobs in rural England are in small towns.

Small towns face some big challenges now and in the future

Challenges for small towns in the future include:

• where to put more housing
• where to invest in rural jobs
• where to put investment in transport
• how to reduce car use
• how to organise health and other services

– all within a context of reduced resources and the need to meet climate change targets.

Unemployment
From May 2008 to May 2009, small towns saw steeper unemployment than the national average over the year – 120% compared to 90% for England as a whole. Among the hardest hit are middle class and professional groups with links to urban communities – commuters, in other words.

Empty shops
In July 2009, 1 in 8 town centre shops (12%) were vacant.

Yet small towns are largely ignored in strategic policy

Small towns are largely ignored in strategic policy making terms.  They are frequently mentioned in a range of circumstances (housing, services, infrastructure, social capital) and a key link in urban-rural interaction, but rarely followed with strategic or sub-regional proposals.

What is a small town?
There is currently no agreed Government method for separating small towns from other urban areas. Under existing urban-rural definitions, settlements with populations of over 10,000 are classified as “urban”.  This means that specific research on small towns does not exist. Therefore the likelihood of their needs being overlooked is increased.

Land use critical policy issue
The Rural Advocate identified land use as a critical policy issue for rural areas in the future.  Rural towns comprise approximately 7% of rural land use but accommodate 90% of rural people – arguably this 7% of land use generates as much, if not more, policy conflict as National Parks, AONBs and other protected designates.

Small Towns for Tomorrow

Small Towns for Tomorrow brings together leading academics, national organisations, businesses, public sector agencies, and practitioners, with a shared ambition to:

• understand and highlight the unintended consequences of ill-considered and insufficiently evidence-based government policies that affect small towns
• explore innovative solutions for the future