The Tory party has lost touch with its traditional roots in the countryside, according to Alan Titchmarsh. Mr Titchmarsh said parties of "all shade...

Getting our planning laws right was a big issue to ensure we protect our green spaces. But the countryside is not just pretty fields and forests; it is a living, breathing environment and the people who live there need to be listened to on all the issues, not just those that make prime time.

The government will today publish long-awaited reforms to the planning system which have been the focus of a bitter dispute with countryside campaigne...

A simple stat for you to start: there are four mentions of 'rural' in the Budget document released by the Treasury today (available here) and 13 for 'cities'.

Some readers will recall that not so long ago, in the autumn of 2011, the government released its first stab at trimming down Britain's onerous planning regulations. The National Planning Policy Framework, or NPPF as it became known, was seen by the coalition as a useful new weapon in its battle to control the deficit - more houses, more wealth, more growth.

While some might have you believe that the biggest threat facing the countryside is the government's as yet unpublished and yet-to-be voted-on White Paper on planning (otherwise known as the National Planning Policy Framework or NPPF); in truth the biggest danger to our much-loved green spaces is the slow and seemingly irreversible decline of the rural economy.

There have always been those opposed to progress. But we're not talking about the Galileo or the Industrial Revolution here - we're talking about 40 minutes off the journey between London and Birmingham - at a cost of £17 billion of public money! And, when no-one can be quite sure of the scheme's success, it does all seem like a little too high a price to pay.

A vote to repeal the Hunting Act should not be a top animal welfare priority for the coalition Government, according to a poll. The Government shou...

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman is to announce further plans to tackle bovine TB in badgers. In July the Government revealed controversial p...

However hot a potato the issue of fuel duty becomes, for the sake of the rural economy (among many others), today's debate must not be the end of the discussion.

The digital divide between urban and rural areas grows ever wider; with towns and cities basking in fibre-optic internet speeds and a variety of different providers offering competitive rates, while those living in the countryside have to contend with the net going down everytime someone calls their home telephone.

Today, right across the country, thousands of supporters of fox hunting will be assembling for the first meet of the season, the seventh since the ban came into force in 2005.

There is a very simple way to dissuade the League Against Cruel Sports and the police from prosecuting me for breaking the law. I just tell them if they do so I will start obeying it.

The beginning of November sees us enter autumn in earnest; the clocks go back, the nights draw in and there is an ever-present chill in the air. This weekend also heralds the beginning of the hunting season, with hunts up and down the country holding their opening meets.

The fruit harvest is nearly over. The best of British apples, pears and plums are on the shelves of supermarkets, local shops and market stalls across the country. But have you ever stopped to think about the hand that picked them?