THE chairman of the Commission for Rural Communities will today (Thursday) visit several villages in the Okehampton area, to see for himself work underway to tackle financial exclusion and rural poverty. Dr Stuart Burgess, the government's Rural Advocate, is on a two-day visit to the county. He will be visiting Moretonhamstead to meet residents and community leaders; Belstone's weekly mobile post office service in the village hall; Okehampton, to hear about the South West Pound project and meet clients, also the Citizens' Advice Bureau  rural outreach workers and Halwill Junction to meet staff involved in the Wheels2Work rural transport project and users of the scheme.   Speaking ahead of his visit Dr Burgess said: 'I am looking forward very much to my visit to rural Devon.  'Tackling rural disadvantage is a key tenet that underpins the work of the CRC. To put the problem in perspective, in 2007 there were over 928,000 households in rural England with incomes below the official poverty threshold of £16,492 per annum. This is equivalent to a city the size of the Birmingham conurbation. Yet because these people are dispersed throughout rural England, they tend to form a 'forgotten city' of disadvantage.   'A recent survey by the Community Council of Devon covering 25 villages shows that 55% of those in housing need are on household incomes of less than £15,000 per annum.  'I am therefore particularly looking forward to meeting the many people and organisations in Devon directly involved in a wide range of projects and initiatives tackling social and financial exclusion and learning about both the barriers and solutions to financial inclusion in rural areas, and, of course, meeting beneficiaries.   'It is only when you talk to people first hand that you can fully appreciate the problems and challenges involved.'