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Promoting greener tourism, helping young people from farms to start their own businesses and looking into innovative ways of providing childcare are among the ideas being explored by communities in North East England as part of the new Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE).
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The potential projects have been outlined by some of the region’s new ‘LEADER’ areas – places where community partnerships will shape for themselves how their share of at least £4.5m of RDPE funding will be used across the region’s LEADER areas over the next three years.
LEADER is a community-led, ‘bottom up’ approach to rural development in areas of poor economic performance or deprivation which is being used to deliver at least 5% of the new RDPE. It involves broad-based community partnerships - known as Local Action Groups and made up of representatives from local businesses and the public sector, land managers, local voluntary groups and local residents – in developing a regeneration strategy for their area, called a Local Development Strategy.
The partnerships then decide on investment priorities for their areas and manage the projects they want to carry out.
One North East has now agreed the strategies put forward by partnerships for the North Pennine Dales, East Durham, Northumberland Uplands, and Northumberland Coast and Lowlands areas, meaning they can begin getting ready for their first projects.
One North East rural board member, Ian Brown, said: “The Agency has been working closely with these groups over the last six months to develop some really strong and exciting strategies.
“While LEADER still focuses on RDPE’s core themes of developing micro-enterprises and sustainable communities, bioenergy, sustainable farming and forestry, and natural and cultural assets, it’s about the ideas and solutions of communities themselves. So whether that’s exploring how renewable energy sources could help local businesses cut their fuel bills, helping farms to diversify into other enterprises, or trying new ways of attracting tourists, they can be really innovative in how they use this funding - and have tailored their plans around the specific needs of their area.
“We’re also particularly pleased that this is the first time that LEADER funding will be used in some areas.”
LEADER will be administered with the support of Northumberland Strategic Partnership and County Durham Economic Partnership. A fifth potential LEADER area, covering the Tees Valley and North York Moors National Park, is currently developing its proposed Local Development Strategy with Yorkshire Forward and One North East.
The Rural Development Programme for England 2007-2013 is jointly funded by Defra and the European Union, with the aim of delivering targeted support to rural businesses and communities. It is managed in the region by One North East, Natural England and the Forestry Commission.
The RDPE investment being managed by One North East combines larger projects to help many businesses in different sectors of the rural economy - including bioenergy and land-based skills, and projects adding value to agricultural and forestry products - with smaller investments to help individual businesses to start-up, grow or diversify, and support to develop more sustainable rural communities. Rural community partnerships are shaping how at least 25% of the funding is invested themselves, using the LEADER approach.
For more information on RDPE in North East England, visit: www.rdpenortheast.co.uk
For more information on RDPE, visit:
http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/rurdev/index_en.htm
http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/rdpe/index.htm
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For more information, contact Claire Mason (press office) on 0191 2296429 or 07765220755, or by emailing Claire.mason@onenortheast.co.uk
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