Remote villages like Kettlewell could cash in on the 'cyber-economy'

The foundations of a new "cyber-economy" are being laid in an attempt to halt an exodus of young people forced by plummeting farm incomes and low-salary tourism jobs to seek employment further afield.

Key figures from local councils, the National Park Authority and a telecoms provider have this week agreed a plan to bring high-speed broadband internet access to the Dales later this year.

The plan was drawn up by the Richmondshire local strategic partnership, an independent group of community leaders who hope to lure home workers and small IT-based businesses to the area with an irresistible cocktail of cutting-edge technology and a stunning environment.

Bright ideas

"We have to recognise the urgent need for different forms of employment here," says the partnership's chairman Peter Annison as he looks out across Wensleydale from the office of his rope-making factory in Hawes.

"Tourism never produces a high-wage economy - it is part-year, part-time and part-paid.

"Meanwhile, farm incomes are too low to attract young people, so you see a rapidly ageing population with fewer people taking part in an active economy.

We need desperately to have broadband to attract the people who are footloose in terms of where they live and work Peter Annison, local strategic partnership chairman

"The areas of economic activity that seem most appropriate in a rural environment are knowledge-based businesses.

"There are lots of young people with bright ideas who would very much like to move into the countryside because of the quality of life here.

"But for them to operate successfully here we need desperately to have broadband to attract the people who are footloose in terms of where they live and work."

Broadband would also allow the development of a Dales-specific "walled garden" network, providing tailor-made internet content for tourists and locals alike.

The network could be run by a co-operative and generate income for the local economy by charging users for access.

Mr Annison envisages holidaymakers with laptops or handheld computers accessing information such as virtual guided walks and up-to-the-minute local weather forecasts by buying a weekly access licence for a few pounds.

And Dales inhabitants would benefit by tapping into an electronic reservoir of local news and community information.

Once any teething problems are ironed out, the model for a rural broadband community could even be marketed and sold to other parts of the country facing similar problems.

With recent legislation freeing up radio frequencies to allow wireless broadband use in previously hard-to-reach rural areas, the high-tech vision for the Dales has come at just the right time.

It also has the support of the National Park Authority, whose head of park management, John Avison, says: "We are aware that for the park to be successful, it needs a vibrant local economy.

"We need to try and build opportunities for new business that are appropriate for the park and would support broadband in the park in principle."

However, as the planning authority for the park, it would also have the final say on whether the radio masts needed for the wireless network could be built on strictly protected national park land.

Housing crisis

"We would view planning applications for masts on their individual merits but we are not opposed in principle," he said.

Employment opportunities offered by new technology are just one part of the strategic authority's plan to manage the changing demographic of the Dales.

If the sons and daughters of indigenous families are to remain in the area, the near-total lack of affordable housing must be urgently addressed.

Both the National Park Authority and strategic partnership have put the housing problem at the top of their agendas.

"We cannot build our way out of this problem because we can't have wall-to-wall housing that destroys the essence of the park," said Mr Annison.

"So we have to be a bit more imaginative."

Plans are in place to bring broadband to the Dales this year

The partnership recently commissioned a feasibility study to find out how the gap between rocketing house prices and young people's income could be bridged.

It has identified a shared-equity scheme, in which private investors contribute to the cost of buying a house, as a possible solution.

The study found that there were enough investors willing to put money in, enough properties in the right price bracket and enough young people who would take up the scheme to make it work.

"We're hoping that within 12 to 18 months such a scheme will be operating," said Mr Annison.

"That would allow us to partially deal with the problem of people being unable to afford to live here."

The National Park Authority had been "hugely supportive" of the idea, he said.

"They are deeply concerned about the lack of affordable housing and have been extremely helpful in looking at ways to assist us.

Local people face competition from those seeking holiday and second homes Peter Watson, national park head of planning

Peter Watson, head of planning for the authority, says the problem is not a shortage of accommodation.

"There is now one house for every two residents - but the problem is soaring property prices.

Three-bedroom semi-detached cottages in some villages are on the market for more than �200,000, out of reach for many in a low-income area.

Mr Watson says they must look at ways of restricting the occupancy of new dwellings to local people.

"Average wages here are below those in other parts of the country and local people face competition from those seeking holiday and second homes.

"We will continue to work closely with the local district councils and housing associations, who have responsibility for meeting the need for affordable housing, and assist them in whatever way we can."

In the last 10 years planning permission has been approved for 1,100 dwellings, half of which have been barn conversions.

Back in Hawes, Mr Annison says he feels a bit like King Canute trying to hold back the tide when he considers the complex implications of the increasingly rapid social change taking place in the Dales.

But he adds: "We must buy a little time by managing this change to mitigate against the worst effects of unmanaged change."