Farming News - Cuts to services risk creating ghost towns
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Cuts to services risk creating ghost towns
Two Welsh MPs, representing the Labour and Conservative parties, have warned that people in rural communities may end up living in "ghost towns or villages" if vital services continue to be stripped from rural regions.
Glyn Davies and Albert Owen both expressed concern over the future of Britain’s rural communities as closures of banks and cuts to healthcare services and bus routes risk isolating and neglecting those in rural regions.
The calls were sparked by the closure of a branch of HSBC in Prestigne, Powys. Labour’s Albert Owen said he fears the effects closures of banks, post offices shops and pubs are having on rural communities. The MP presaged, "We are talking about institutions that have been there for many decades, and if they go then we are in danger of reducing rural services to not just second class, but in many areas, just ghost villages and towns where people just live."
Conservative Glyn Davies also warned that the effects of the coalition’s policies were undermining rural communities and threatening their future viability. He warned that the loss of services would impact severely on communities in spite of efforts by government departments to engage in rural communities through grants to businesses and rolling out high speed broadband.
He also said rural communities risk becoming ghost towns if vital infrastructure is removed, disrupting the way communities can function. Speaking on BBC Wales’ Saturday Politics programme, he said, "I think there's a responsibility on banks, particularly since they've had a lot of money from central government to survive, to make sure that doesn't happen."