On Friday 4 November, we held the first Rural Business Forum in Shaw House, Newbury. The aim of the event was to bring rural businesses in West Berkshire together and discuss the challenges and opportunities that could be explored with the council; including development, environment and rural community prosperity. The event was attended by a range of sectors including Estates, Farms, Horse Racing, Vineyards and Land Managers.
The in person event saw an exploration of key topics in the rural economy and opened with our Key Note Speaker, Lord Benyon, Minister of State for DEFRA, who was also representing Englefield Estate who talked about issues relating to planning, connectivity and environment. This was followed by Ed Cooper, Director of Biocap talking about Biodiversity Net Gain, and Tim Slaney, Director of Planning at South Downs National Park who spoke about whole estate plans within the protected area of outstanding natural beauty.
The afternoon included breakout sessions where attendees could discuss the opportunities and challenges in rural growth. The outcomes and prioritisations from the groups discussion will be taken on board to produce an action plan within the Council. We received great feedback from the event with 100% of the attendees finding it useful. We will be looking at holding similar events in the future to keep an active relationship with our businesses in the district.
This event sees the beginning of a closer working relationship between the Council and businesses as we continue to make West Berkshire a great place to live and work.