Town-country divide comes under study

Understanding the extent and nature of the rural-urban divide is to be the subject of a Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Maf) study.

A sector source said addressing the threat this "gap" posed to agriculture's economic prosperity was one of the key reasons for the study.

Friction points between town and country include calls for farmers to increase protection of the environment, lifestyle block owners' complaints over rural noise and urban encroachment of productive land.

One opinion on the "gap" is that the rural sector is likely to remain the primary engine of economic growth and any restraints imposed as a result of "urban" concerns could hurt such growth.

Federated Farmers president Charlie Pedersen has already lambasted environmentalist critics of farming impacts, saying they do not place enough emphasis on maintaining national economic well-being.

Maf rural affairs co-ordinator Gavin Forrest has confirmed research recently began on how people related to the primary sector, including how such beliefs and values might change.

But Forrest stressed the research was not aimed at convincing urban dwellers they had to bend over backwards to accommodate the rural sector, whose attitude to urban values was also being probed. "It's building bridges rather than telling people to jump over to our side ... both sides might have to move."

A related project was raising awareness of the primary sector "in an increasingly urbanised society". Forrest said better understanding of the rural sector's economic importance could help better inform decisions and policy-making around agriculture.

Kevin Steel, a Maf adviser in Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton's office, said the research was aimed at strengthening rural-urban linkages. Anderton - who has publicly consistently emphasised the importance of the primary sector - had been given a Government "mandate" to raise its profile.

Steel said officials were still looking at how rural-urban linkages could be built up.

He had not heard the minister talk about the "gap" posing an economic threat to the rural sector - rather Anderton's thoughts were that increasing understanding between town and country would produce better results for the country.