A 21st Century Countryside for West Yorkshire

Let’s be idealistic – Utopian, perhaps, and suppose for a moment that our big campaigning goals all succeeded. People’s needs for homes and jobs were met without wasteful loss of greenfield land. Active travel and public transport were properly prioritised so that people could travel to and within the countryside without needing a car. There was a genuine, concerted programme to tackle climate change, carbon emissions and biodiversity, so that we could see an end to the regular devastation by flooding and moorland fires, and people could reconnect with nature. Millions of trees were planted in town and country. New homes were well-designed and used minimal energy.

These ideals may feel some way off at present, but bear in mind that they are all supported, in principle at least, by government policies and targets, and there are many individuals, organisations and community groups trying to make them happen. The question is, then, if these hopes were realised, what would West Yorkshire’s countryside be like?

We know that many people want good and imaginative outcomes for our countryside, but we’re missing a collective ambition that we can work towards together. ‘21^st Century Countryside’ is our attempt to find answers to that question – and we would like your help, so please get involved.