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Rural life and internet accessibility: A partnership of exclusion?Lorraine FianderPage 1 ¦ Page 2 ¦ Page 3 ¦ Page 4 ¦ Printer-friendly version 5. A comparison within Kirklees Metropolitan Council AreaIn order to highlight the issues of rural internet access and the reality for access for rural dwellers, the wards of Holme Valley South and Paddock were examined in some detail. The information used was taken from the Kirklees Council website and a map of public Internet access points, supplied by Kirklees council. Holme Valley South Ward is a rural area in the southern part of the Kirklees Metropolitan Council, in West Yorkshire. The population density of Holme Valley South is from 2.4 to less than 10 people per hectare and according to the ONS Mid-Year Estimates 2002, has a total population of 17,247. The area, on the whole, is not poor, unemployment is just over 2% and the claimant count for November 2000 was 175 people. There is no blanket coverage of the area provided by public transport - with the outlying areas of the ward only served with 0.1 - 1 bus per hour. There are no trains within the area. Paddock Ward is part of the urban area of Huddersfield. The population density of this area is 30 - 39.5 per hectare and, according to the ONS Mid Year Estimates 2002, has a total population of 14,875. This is not a wealthy area of Kirklees as there is over 8% unemployment and the claimant count for November 2000 was 402 - more than twice that of Holme Valley South Ward. This area is well served by buses and also has a train line that runs across its southern border. Most bus routes are served by 4 buses per hour. Within the Holme Valley South ward, there are 3 public access points for Internet use, with 52 Internet connected computers within these facilities. Free tutorials and assistance are available to people living within this ward, although on a small scale. The Paddock ward has 126 public Internet access computers at four locations and are used free of charge to some members of the community - mainly benefit claimants, people over 50, single parents, the unemployed and certain Asian groups. There are also a further 30 within a mile of the east boundary of the ward; these are on very well served bus routes. Free Internet courses are available to people living in the Paddock ward who are claiming benefits and to some groups of the Asian communities in the area. Most rural areas in Kirklees will not have access to ADSL and will, therefore, not be able to access the same quality of Internet access as the more populated areas. Although a proposed cyberbus carrying 7 computers will not address the entire problem of rural Internet access to any great extent, it is attempting to address it. By using the statistics on population and computer access it can be seen that there are 336 people per computer in Holme Valley South and 124 people per computer in Paddock. It could be argued that there is a greater need for free public access computers in Paddock as this is an area of greater poverty than Holme Valley South, but this may not affect the experience of social exclusion. It is proposed that Holme Valley should either have an increase in bus services and/or free Internet access as without one of these factors being addressed the residents in the area may suffer further social exclusion and lack of access to e-citizenship, due to a lack of adequate access to the Internet. 6. ConclusionIt cannot be denied that social exclusion is an issue affecting many people in Britain at the present time. Poverty, although a major factor in the experience, is not the only aspect of social exclusion. Lack of access to services are a fundamental factor in the experience of social exclusion and a lack of adequate transport and communications systems may cause those living in remote areas to become more isolated and excluded from enjoying full citizenship and participation in society. It was seen that rural social exclusion could be due to a combination of factors that, on their own, may not appear to be major reasons for a person to experience exclusion. Lack of adequate communications, poor public transport networks and geographical isolation can combine to exclude people from participating in society. As the government pledged to provide Internet access for all and to publish all public information online by 2005, it was seen that this could be an additional cause for further rural social exclusion. It is seen that, at present, Internet access is reduced for many rural dwellers, and is concentrated in urban areas. Due to the lack of public transport in rural areas - this lack of access may be compounded. In order to genuinely address social exclusion in Britain, it is be necessary for the government to implement policies to assist those living in rural areas alongside those in place for those in towns and cities. A lack of adequate public transport was seen to be a major factor in the isolation of some inhabitants of rural areas - an increase in frequency and areas covered is necessary to allow people to participate more fully in society. Internet access for those in rural areas must be addressed. This could be addressed partly through an increase in public transport and an increase in access in libraries, adult education centres, post offices and schools. Subsidised satellite internet access and ‘Cyber-busses’ may be methods of bringing technology to those in remote rural areas. Further research must be carried out into rural social exclusion, internet access and its impact on ecitizenship, as this debate will not disappear. People who live in rural areas, though not seen to be in as much poverty as those living in some urban areas, are being excluded, both from society and citizenship, due to factors of access and deprivation. Poor farmers do exist, homelessness does exist in the countryside, poverty is a valid experience for 20% of rural dwellers and services are frequently poor. The factors that impact on those living in rural areas should be taken into account in that, rather than attempting to fit methodologies and measures used for urban research. There is no doubt that these polices would incur further cost to councils and central government, but social exclusion is still a major issue and must be addressed if the people in rural areas are to be able to participate fully, as citizens, in their communities and in wider society. | |