Thaindian News

London, Sep 19 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The British Beer and Pub Association has revealed that 893 pubs had no option but to shut their doors in 2009 forever. This sure is a sad piece of news, because the local authorities feel that the traditional village life is on the verge of fizzling out.

According to the National Housing Federation, other essential village services are also shutting down and that too, at an alarming rate. The officials of the National Housing Federation also added that more than 400 village shops downed their shutters in 2008. Perhaps the most alarming trend was that one rural school was shutting down per month during the period of 1997-2008.

This reflects that there is no demand for the services in the local villages, as local families are moving out of the villages and instead wealthy people are settling there, who often own more than two houses. Also many pensioners are also settling in the villages, in the autumn of their lives.

Federation chief executive David Orr said that, “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. Rural towns and villages need to have mixed, working communities, otherwise there is a very real danger our countryside will become little more than a theme park for weekenders.”