Support for rural areas (From Gazette Series)

Support for rural areas

RURAL communities across Gloucestershire are to benefit from the largest Rural Renaissance project in the South-West thanks to the South-West Regional Development Agency.

The £7 million project has been designed to help rural communities in the county influence and respond to the changing pressures facing the rural economy. Some £3 million will come directly from the agency, the largest amount it has invested in any county to date.

The programme will be run by the Gloucestershire Rural Economy Advisory Panel, made up of the public, private and voluntary sector organisations that constitute Gloucestershire First, the eEconomic partnership.

The panel will provide funding for to support a wide variety of projects. Projects could include initiatives as diverse as lending scooters for youths to get to work on, installing ICT access in village shops to providing quality rural workspace for business start-ups.

Announcing the new funding for Gloucestershire, Jonathon Porritt, chairman of the UK Sustainable Development Commission and agency board member said: "Many rural communities face significant challenges responding to changes in the rural economy. The combination of a decline in some traditional rural industries - such as agriculture - along with challenges associated with peripherality and lack of infrastructure can mean that rural areas experience economic disadvantage.

"The South West RDA is committed to assisting in the regeneration of the rural communities and this latest tranch of funding will provide significant assistance for rural communities in Gloucestershire to achieve this."

Robin Grist, Chairman of the Gloucestershire Rural Economy Advisory Panel, said:

"It is now important that some projects start up quickly and the panel has been working to meet this objective."

Ian Knight South West RDA head of operations, Gloucestershire, said: "We welcome this hugely ambitious programme which will focus on enhancing economic performance in the county's rural areas. With increased delegation to the local rural partnership we hope to put key funding decisions into the hands of local people."