There’s a new place to turn for rural businesses and communities wanting to find out about ways to access EU and Defra funding via One NorthEast.
A new user guide to the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) has been launched online at http://www.rdpenortheast.co.uk/page/userguide.cfm. The guide includes information on every step of the process, from the priorities for investment to how land-based and other rural enterprises, and rural communities, can access the cash.
RDPE was approved by the EU in January, and is now well underway in the North East. Worth £3.9bn overall across England, the 7 year programme - jointly funded by the European Union and Defra – aims to make agriculture and forestry more competitive and sustainable, and to develop micro-enterprise, bioenergy and sustainable communities in rural areas.
One NorthEast is managing the socio-economic parts of the programme in the North East, which equate to around £7m of annual investment - combining larger projects that will help many businesses across the rural economy, with smaller investments to help individual rural businesses to start-up, grow and diversify and support to help rural communities become more sustainable.
Rural entrepreneur, tenant farmer and One NorthEast Board Member, Ian Brown, said: “In a nutshell, the socio-economic RDPE investment splits into two types: support for rural businesses and support for rural communities. It’s about sustainable economic growth in rural areas – creating new jobs, adding value in supply chains, supporting the start-up, growth and diversification of enterprises, and improving access to community services, for example.
“Whether you’re a farmer or land-owner, a rural entrepreneur or a member of a rural community, this one-stop guide explains the criteria that your business or community project would have to meet to be considered for funding, and how to take your idea further.
“Rural areas have a very important part to play in the wider growth of North East England’s economy and competitiveness, and RDPE will be an important tool over the next seven years.”
Rural community partnerships will shape how at least 25% of the funding being managed by One NorthEast is invested themselves using an approach called ‘LEADER,’ and programmes to develop business and community assets will be rolled out in Northumberland, Durham and Tees Valley later in the year. Natural England and the Forestry Commission will manage the North East’s share of approximately £3.3bn over the RDPE’s lifetime, via agri-environment and other land management schemes in the region.
So far, investments approved by One NorthEast have included:
* A £1m microenterprise fund to help new and existing rural businesses grow and develop
* £1.2m to develop bioenergy supply chains
* £1.2m to give people working in agriculture, forestry and land management the chance to develop their skills
* Just over £100,000 to help Country Valley Foods in Darlington to expand its maturation and processing facilities
* The launch of local development strategies by four new ‘LEADER’ area partnerships
‘LEADER’ is a community-led, ‘bottom up’ approach to rural development in areas of poor economic performance or deprivation, involving community partnerships – called Local Action Groups and made up of representatives from local businesses, land managers, the public sector, local voluntary groups and local residents – in developing a regeneration strategy for their area and deciding on investment priorities.
One NorthEast has agreed strategies put forward by partnerships for the North Pennine dales, East Durham, Northumberland uplands, and Northumberland coast and lowlands areas, and their Local Action Groups are preparing to start work on their first projects. Innovative ways of delivering services like childcare, establishing technical training groups for farmers and getting young rural business people to support other budding entrepreneurs are among the ideas they’re already exploring.
A fifth potential LEADER area, covering rural East Cleveland and North York Moors National Park, is currently developing proposals as part of a cross-border bid with North Yorkshire.
For more information on RDPE in North East England or to download the full user guide, visit: www.rdpenortheast.co.uk. A shorter version of the user guide is available in hard copy by contacting Michael Patterson on 0191 229 6521 or by emailing rdpe@onenortheast.co.uk