THE Countryside Alliance has long been calling for a new integrated government department to include express responsibility for rural affairs and to encompass all aspects of rural life. That such a department is to be set up and headed at cabinet level by a politician of the seniority of Margaret Beckett should be an encouraging sign of Government intentions towards the countryside.

The real work begins now - and must begin urgently. We are nearly out of time if we are to save the best of our countryside. The key is to ensure the greatest number of sustainable rural livelihoods from the productive use of the land itself. With this presumption at the centre of rural policy the rest, including the safeguarding of the rural environment, will slot into place more easily - so long, of course, as Government also ensures the affordable homes, amenities, transport and services which alone will enable local rural communities to remain viable.

The options for sustainable use of the land go far beyond food production into areas such as plant products, biomass energy, floodplain management schemes and other environmental 'products'. Whilst a more sustainable, ecologically-friendly form of farming must remain at the heart of the rural economy, policy-makers must nevertheless beware of treating 'food production' and 'farming' as synonymous.

It has been claimed that any real progress could be hampered by what are often assumed to be the all-but irreconcilable claims of the countryside's legitimate stakeholders. But Mrs Beckett will find a receptiveness to the need for change and a surprising degree of consensus already amongst those actually responsible for the use, conservation and shaping of our landscape.

This week the Alliance is publishing the conclusion of a seminar that brought together leading academics, farmers, landowners, conservationists and both rural and urban business groups. Entitled Choose Livelihoods: Land Management and Conservation Alternatives in the UK the seminar revealed a strong consensus about supposedly vexed questions such as the need for progressive reform, transition from subsidy dependence to economic self-sustainability, and a role for the state in land management issues. The document can be viewed on the Alliance website www.countryside-alliance.org/policy-briefs

We will be presenting a copy of this report to Mrs Beckett's new Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and commend it to all rural policymakers.

NICKY DRIVER, regional press officer, Countryside Alliance, Ledbury.