THE boundaries between urban and rural living are becoming increasingly blurred as the middle classes move to the countryside but continue to commute to towns and cities.

About 115,000 people a year are leaving the city for the sticks, compared with 81,000 during the 1980s and 1990s. Migration from urban to rural areas is running at four times the migration from North to South.

One of the main reasons is the exodus of young families. Officials at the agency who compile the annual countryside report expected the increase to involve mainly retired people looking for a quieter life, but just under half are aged 25 to 44. The number of second-home owners has also gone up by 10,000 to 135,000 in the past four years.

People living in the country enjoy better health and live longer while their children get better school grades. However, they have to travel further to see a GP and go to school or a Jobcentre. Unlike their urban counterparts, many have to travel more than a mile for petrol or a cashpoint, supermarket or post office.

And if people think a move to the country means escaping traffic, they are wrong. Traffic on rural roads increased by 2.3 per cent from 2001 to 2002, and on minor roads and lanes by 4.7 per cent, even though these roads are in the worst condition in the country. There were also 1,182 deaths on rural roads, compared with 636 on urban ones.

This snapshot of life in rural England is contained in State of the Countryside, a report by the Countryside Agency. Richard Wakeford, its chief executive, said it was apparent that there was “a new kind of countryside, and people are using it differently”.

The countryside was a success story of the 21st century. “As a nation we are getting wealthier and we are using that wealth on extra travel to get a life in the countryside,” he said. Most people lived within 30 miles of a big city,” Mr Wakeford said.

“People with the means are finding that they’re able to move to places in the countryside and get that sense of green refreshment that many of us enjoy. But at the same time they are able to maintain their links to the urban areas and get out of urban areas what they want from them. So therefore the boundaries between urban and rural have become blurred.”

Many of those moving to the countryside are responsible for a boom in small businesses and employment: more new firms start up now in rural areas than in cities.

The change in character of the countryside does not please everyone: campaigners say that a quarter of land mass in England has been affected and that even protected Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty have suffered.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England blames much of the problem on development of corridors leading to the main cities. It is calling on the agency to adopt new data to measure change by taking into account levels of noise, such as from roads and air traffic, and tranquillity. New regional maps showing landscape change are to be published within three months.

Country living means a longer life — on average 18 months longer for both sexes — and 72 per cent of country dwellers say they are in good health compared with 68 per cent in towns. Child and baby health is also better in the countryside, reflecting the better health of their parents. There are fewer people with long-term illnesses and fewer disabled people in the countryside than in towns, although many country people appear to suffer from arthritis and mental health problems.

There is concern, too, about the rate of suicides in the countryside, particularly among young men aged 16 to 24.

Another explanation for the drift from town to country could be the better results recorded by children in rural schools compared with those in urban ones. Some 58.5 per cent of rural pupils gained at least five GCSEs above grade C, compared with 46.7 per cent in urban schools. Even in terms of training 45.5 per cent of the rural workforce had attained NVQ level 3 or above compared to 43.3 per cent in urban areas.

There also appears to be a marked difference in the results of tests at Key Stage 2, which are taken at the age of 11, with much higher percentages of rural pupils achieving Level 4 or more than urban pupils.

For example, in English, country pupils scored 79.4 per cent above Level 4 compared with 71.8 in towns. In mathematics the figure is 76.8 per cent compared with 70.9, and in science 89.1 per cent compared with 84.4.

The combination of wealthy incoming permanent residents and weekenders continues to price out local people from the property ladder.

The agency says that the countryside needs 10,000 affordable new houses a year for low-income groups and young people. It has already identified 250,000 empty homes in market towns and in rural areas and is working hard with local authorities to ensure that these dwellings are renovated and offered for rent.

DEBATE
Are you a country mouse or a city slicker?
Send your e-mails to debate@thetimes.co.uk

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Times Christmas appeal: Letter from the Editor
• Conferences — what a waste of money
• Schools supremo learns a painful lesson