Can we suggest ways of promoting the principles of sustainable development in practice?
Impact assessments for major developments should be undertaken which address the long term effect on social, economic and environmental well-being across as wide a geographic area as appropriate. 4. CREATING A COMPETITIVE AND INCLUSIVE REGION 4a Developing a diverse and dynamic business base a) Have you identified appropriate priority issues and themes? Paras 87 & 88. We welcome the acknowledgement of the importance of the need for agricultural restructuring and to broaden the rural economic base. However in the light of the ever increasing crisis in the agricultural industry we feel more emphasis should be given to addressing the problems facing the agricultural community. Whilst we acknowledge that there are decreasing Nos. employed directly in farming there are still considerable numbers of people employed in the wider agricultural industry. The continuing crisis facing many farmers is and will continue to have a considerable knock-on effect on the wider economy of rural areas. As a
