Quick off the mark

Congratulations to the Rural Services Network for being so quick of the mark in launching its manifesto on the first working day of the New Year. It makes fascinating reading to see the wide variety of needs identified by the Network's members, including ourselves. It also shows the huge challenge that whoever forms the next Government will face given the state of public funding.

The challenge with a manifesto is that they always look lopsided as they have to be about what the Government should do, when we all know that life if never as simple as that. Plunkett is an inspiring place to be because we see the power that ordinary people can unlock by deciding what they can achieve together rather than waiting for Government.

The Manifesto has, in my view, captured the vital link between these two positions. It has a strong commitment to support community-led planning. The work of so many rural community councils in developing this approach has been one of the inspirations in rural development in recent times. Done well, it helps all to see what needs to be done and who is best placed to do it. The more plans that link community desire with community ownership and social enterprise, the broader the range of issues we will all be able to tackle in 2010.