Member Article

Communities take the lead

Communities in the North East are exploring new ways in which to promote greener tourism, help young people from farms to start their own businesses and to create more innovative ways of providing child care as part of the new Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE).

The potential projects have been outlined by some of the region’s new ‘LEADER’ areas - places where communities will decide for themselves how their share of £4.5m of RDPE funding will be used.

LEADER is a community-led approach to rural development in areas of poor economic performance. It involves community partnerships made up of representatives from local businesses and the public sector.

Ian Brown, One NorthEast rural board member, 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.”

For more information on RDPE in North East England, visit: www.rdpenortheast.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .