LEADER Programme

£1 million funding allocated to the rural economy in Rural Peterborough and Rutland

Opportunity Peterborough has successfully allocated £1 million grant funding for businesses and projects in the Rural Peterborough and Rutland area of the LEADER Programme.

The LEADER programme is part of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) and is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Grants of £2,500 – £50,000 (or in exceptional cases up to £75,000) were awarded to part fund the work of farmers, growers, foresters and other rural businesses and community organisations.

The Local Action Group (LAG), which helped to evaluate and approve applications for funding, set out a bold aim for the fund:

“To achieve a vibrant, sustainable and diverse rural economy that builds on the area’s wealth of natural, cultural and heritage assets and is characterised by a high quality of life, a varied landscape and has a sense of place and inclusive and connected communities”

Please be aware that this fund has now closed for applications. A list of the government’s rural grants schemes can be found here.

What have we achieved?

  • 27 projects supported
  • On track to create 40 jobs
  • A total of £2.5 million invested into the rural economy

Click here to find out more about all the projects in the end of programme booklet.

Our projects

All the grant money has been allocated but some projects have only just begun. You can read about some of our completed projects below. Each project meets at least one of the six priority areas from the Local Industrial Strategy.

Support for micro and small businesses (non-agricultural) and farm diversification

Boost rural tourism

  • Rutland Sailability (new safety boat and launch and recovery vehicle)
  • Sacrewell Farm (new campsite showers, beekeeping equipment, polytunnel for outdoor activities and a mobile forge for the blacksmith.)
  • Cuckoo Farm Campsite (new outdoor campsite with wash facilities and kitchen, electric outputs for campervans)
  • Rutland Organics (new butchery at Cuckoo Farm)
  • White Hart in Ufford (additional entrance to their function rooms and conversion of outbuildings into two bedrooms)
  • Ferry Meadows (interpretive signage and an electric boat, set to complete 2020)
  • Lynch Lake Kiosk at Ferry Meadows (building conversation to create a multi-use space for visitors and staff, set to complete 2020)
  • MacCartney Family Trust (converting a barn into a holiday home, set to complete 2020)
  • The Paper Shop (expand and enhance current premises, set to complete 2020)
  • Fairchilds Holiday Lets (converting a barn into luxury holiday lets, set to complete 2020)

Increase farm productivity

  • Parker Farms (purchase of a direct drill)
  • Manor Farm (purchase of a direct drill)
  • Tyler Farms (purchase of a direct drill)
  • Pode Hole Farm (purchase of a fertiliser spreader)

Provide rural services

  • Northborough Community Association (Village Hall expansion)
  • Maxey Village Hall (refurbishment including heating, new kitchen, additional entrances to kitchen, fire alarms and tarmacking car parks)
  • Ashwell Village Hall (extension to make it compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), set to complete 2020)
  • Lanhgam Village Hall (upgrade the hall’s roof, set to complete 2020)

Increase forestry productivity

  • Quercus Woodcraft (purchase of a mobile sawmill and associated equipment)
  • Rutland Tree Care ( purchase of a crane, set to complete 2020)

Provide cultural and heritage activity

  • Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue (resurfacing car parks and new signage, set to complete 2020)

 

 

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