As Parliament returned this week with a new Prime Minister and a refreshed government we have reached a pivotal political moment for the countryside. The past two years have seen a raft of policies that have, knowingly or unknowingly, had a detrimental impact on rural interests. By our count there are at least 27 measures, from the family farm tax to the employers NI hike and from restrictions on shotgun ownership to the imposition of affordability checks on betting, that are a direct and present threat to the economic and social sustainability of rural communities.

Of course, a new Prime Minister can choose a new path and Andy Burnham has already reversed the government's policies on a digital ID scheme, an increase in bus fares and on green levies. There is no reason he cannot take a similar approach in the countryside and fully protect family farms from inheritance tax and drop divisive policies like the trail hunting ban. On 14 September, in Westminster, we will be launching a Campaign for the Countryside to promote this opportunity for the Prime Minister to reset the government's relationship with the rural community.

At the launch event an invited audience representing a wide range of rural organisations will hear from senior politicians about the options facing the new government and why a positive approach to rural issues - rather than introducing policies that are bound to cause conflict - is the sensible political strategy. Andy Burnham has said that he is determined to generate good growth in every postcode in the UK. Well, one in four postcodes in Britain are rural (and there are over 100 Labour MPs who have at least a rural element to their constituencies) so the sensible play is to seize the opportunity to reset Labour's relationship with rural communities and work with them to generate growth across the countryside. As part of this campaign we will also be giving you the opportunity to send a message to the Prime Minister, copied to your MP, urging him to change course on rural issues.

Rural people are not asking Ministers to solve every problem overnight, nor are we unrealistic about the multiple demands facing government. What we are asking is to be heard, understood and treated fairly. It is time for this Labour government to grasp that the countryside can be a major part of the solution to Britain's problems, not just a burden or an afterthought. The countryside will deliver growth if it is allowed to do that. All we are asking is that the government recognises the needs of rural communities and works with them, not against them. Now is the time for a rural reset.