Rural and Coastal

Hampshire and the Solent has a distinctive geography combining major urban areas with extensive coastline, island communities, market towns, villages and rural landscapes.

Rural and coastal communities can face particular challenges including transport connectivity, access to services, digital infrastructure, resilience, demographic change and economic opportunity. They also support important visitor, marine, agricultural and environmental activity.

Rural affairs and coastal communities form part of HSCCA’s strategic responsibilities. Where there is no dedicated transferred power, HSCCA considers the needs of these communities through the wider functions and decisions for which it is responsible.

Future guidance or additional powers are reflected when they are formally conferred; the Authority does not treat a strategic area of responsibility as creating powers that it does not have.