Traditional Brit village life dying out as pubs close

LONDON - Campaigners in Britain have claimed that the traditional village life is “dying out” after the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) revealed that 893 pubs had been forced to close down in 2009.

According to the National Housing Federation, the statistics indicate that key services are disappearing from village life “at an alarming rate”.

About 400 village shops closed in 2008, while rural schools shut down at the rate of one a month in England between 1997 and 2008, the organisation said.

It further said the closures reflected a declining demand for services in villages where local families had been priced out of the area by wealthy commuters, pensioners and second-home owners, while too few new homes having been built.

“The cornerstones of traditional village life, such as the local school, the shop and the pub, are disappearing from the rural landscape at an alarming rate,” The Telegraph quoted David Orr, the federation’s chief executive, as saying.

“While there are a range of issues at play here, affordable housing lies at the centre of the battle to save traditional village life. Unless we build more affordable homes for local people, they will continue to be priced out of rural areas and services they support will vanish with them,” he added.