Funding delays leave villages in limbo for a year

Speculation has been growing over the future of the LEADER programme which has provided a massive boost to rural projects, with a £130m windfall expected to have been handed out when the current round of funding comes to an end next year.

But with less than five months left for that to run, the Yorkshire Post has learnt that a deal has yet to be finalised for the next phase, with concerns the amount of money available will be cut as austerity measures bite deep into public sector budgets across Europe.

Officials behind the country’s most successful LEADER project, which covers one of Yorkshire’s national parks, have admitted funding will not be available until January 2015 at the earliest.

The North York Moors, Coast and Hills LEADER Programme has allocated £5.3m to more than 350 schemes since the start of 2009. But the existing programme comes to an end in March 2014 and a new application for funding needs to be made to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which distributes the cash from the European Commission.

The North York Moors National Park Authority’s director of conservation, David Renwick, has been overseeing the LEADER programme since he was appointed in April.

He said: “The situation is not ideal, and we would obviously want to have clarity about the next round of funding as soon as possible. But any scheme involving European funding is complicated, and this is no different. We are in the lap of the European gods, and the European Parliament has been taking its time with making a decision.

“Our plea to Defra would be for funding to be available as early as possible in 2015.”

A £36,000 grant from Defra has been given to the North York Moors, Coast and Hills LEADER programme to hold talks with councils, charities and organisations such as the Country Land and Business Association in 2014 to pinpoint priorities under the next round of funding.

A strategy is due to be submitted to Defra in October next year, before a decision is made on the allocation from the European Commission.

Mr Renwick confirmed the overall amount of money available is expected to be cut due to austerity measures, although the same percentage is expected to be available for the LEADER programme.

But he maintained further European funding could be secured from the region’s Local Enterprise Partnerships, which have been tasked with attracting more investment to bolster Yorkshire’s economy. The next round of funding is expected to have a greater emphasis on economic development alongside community and environmental projects.

Millions of pounds have been poured into rural projects across England through the LEADER programme with funding for businesses, farmers and foresters as well as community groups and those involved in tourism and rural enterprises.

The fund can cover half of the cost of a project up to £50,000 and the current national programme has 64 Local Action Groups, covering 70 per cent of rural England.

Among the projects which have benefitted in the North York Moors are the conversion of a redundant telephone kiosk into a mini-library at Huttons Ambo near Malton, a £5,000 grant for Hovingham Village Hall and a twinning project involving 18 primary schools in the Howardian Hills.

Rural Action Yorkshire’s chief officer, Leah Swain, said: “LEADER funding has made a valued difference to many rural communities.

“The funding enabled RAY to support large numbers of village halls to think about their future.

“We have sustained this support to them through village hall networks, but it is critical that we all work to shape the next tranche of LEADER funding.

“Just as importantly, we have to ensure we have a robust rural strategy that drives the rest of European funding.”

A Defra spokeswoman confirmed £3m has been made available to LEADER groups to help plan until new funding is secured, and said: “We’re currently consulting on how we implement the Common Agricultural Policy to ensure we have funding that will deliver real benefits to the environment, boost the competitiveness of our farming industry and grow the rural economy.”

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