WHO should run the countryside? That's the title of a major conference which opens on Tyneside today.

It marks the achievements of the Rural Economy and Land Use Programme (Relu), a £25m research venture which is administered from Newcastle University.

Around 90 projects have been undertaken nationally under the Relu programme , which began in 2004 as part of the response to the challenges facing rural areas in the wake of the foot and mouth epidemic.

One of the debates at today’s conference at The Sage Gateshead is the issue of whether in the 21st Century land ownership is a responsibility or a privilege.

It will ask whether landowners owe it to society to ensure we are provided with all the services we need from this vital national asset, or does land ownership in today’s Britain already carry too many burdensome responsibilities?

Professor David Harvey from the Centre for Rural Economy at Newcastle University will be supporting environmental consultant Mark Avery and they will be opposed by land use consultant Alan Woods and Lord Joicey, principal trustee of the Ford and Etal Estate in Northumberland.

Chairing the debate will be House of Lords crossbencher Lord Haskins.

Mark Avery said: “The entire population depends on land for a wide range of ecosystem services including ecological resources, carbon storage, flood management, and leisure facilities.

“Regulation is therefore essential to ensure that those privileged to own land are not entirely motivated by profit but also take into account their obligations to society.”