Memorandum submitted by The Leicestershire Rural Partnership (TNF 03)

 

 

Executive Summary

1. The Leicestershire Rural Partnership (LRP) works to ensure the future sustainability of rural settlements and communities within Leicestershire by establishing targeted schemes of support, providing funding to delivery partners, influencing policy decisions at a local, regional and national level, and ensuring co-ordination across a range of organisations delivering in rural Leicestershire. The NFC is represented on the LRP's Management Board.

 

2. We consider that the NFC has worked well to develop the National Forest as a place to live, work and visit during the last ten years. Within our response we highlight the Woodland Economy Business Support (WEBS) and Making Woods Work (MWW) programmes.

 

3. The WEBS programme, delivered by the NFC in partnership, achieved significant benefits to the woodland economy by providing capital grants, training opportunities and helping to establish networking between different forestry businesses. We consider that the successor MWW programme will continue to develop networking, collaboration and marketing opportunities, and support the growth of the annual National Forest Wood Fair as a premier sector and visitor event.

 

4. We welcome the priorities contained within the new National Forest Delivery Plan, 2009-14 especially those focusing on sustainable tourism, transport, and community engagement. It is considered that delivery against these priorities will help to ensure the future sustainability of the National Forest as a place to work, live and visit.

 

Leicestershire Rural Partnership full submission

5. The Leicestershire Rural Partnership (LRP) was established in 1993 to enable partners to work more effectively together to deliver improved services meeting the needs of our rural communities. This has been achieved through a range of public, private and voluntary organisations coming together to share knowledge, experience and resources. The LRP has a formal membership of 22 organisations, including the National Forest Company, with working links to a further 20. To guide our work we established a 20 year Vision which identifies that,

 

In 2026 rural Leicestershire will be made up of thriving and sustainable, safe and secure, communities, towns and villages, each of which will have at least one key community resource. It will be recognised locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, for its

 

· Thriving communities

· Economic activity

· Profitable and entrepreneurial businesses

· Access to services and facilities

· Diverse and well-managed countryside

· Ability to develop skills

 

6. To ensure that we achieve this Vision we have developed the Leicestershire Rural Strategy, 2007-14. Most recently we updated our Rural Economic Priorities, 2009-12 which identified the need to;

 

· Support Market Towns and Rural Centres as Economic Hubs

· Support the Growth of Small Businesses within Rural Areas

· Develop Rural Sectors (inc. equestrian, land-based and food and drink)

· Improve accessibility to employment, training and key services

· Increase the availability of affordable Rural Housing

 

7. In addition to developing and influencing strategy the LRP has successfully secured external funding to run delegated grant schemes. This includes the Rural Business Support Programme, 2006-09 and the current programme - INSPIRE Leicestershire, 2009-12. A key priority within these schemes has been to ensure financial support to help redevelop redundant rural buildings to provide, for example, managed workspace, office accommodation and farm shops. Funding is also available to support the visitor economy by providing grants to hospitality businesses, bed and breakfast accommodation and small tourist attractions.

 

8. The LRP has supported the NFC's former Woodland Economy Business Support (WEBS) programme, 2006-08 and currently are helping to deliver their new Making Woods Work programme. The LRP also responded to the consultation on the National Forest Strategy, 2004-14 - mid-term review. Finally we also supported an unsuccessful bid, led by the NFC, to secure funding through the Rural Development Programme for England, 2007-13 to establish a Local Action Group as part of the LEADER approach.

 

9. We are working closely with the NFC to ensure that the support and funding we respectively have available is signposted appropriately to ensure maximum benefit within the Leicestershire areas of the National Forest. We consider that the NFC has worked well to develop the National Forest as a place to live, work and visit during the last ten years. The development of the National Forest Youth Hostel and caravan site is a significant achievement. The continued development of the National Forest's visitor economy will be enhanced by the forthcoming development of the National Forest Cycling Centre.

 

10. We consider that the WEBS programme was highly successful, as supported through the independent evaluation outlined below, and believe that the Making Woods Work programme will deliver similar benefits to the woodland economy. It is often noted that it is difficult to engage and support woodland and forestry businesses through mainstream business support (e.g. Business Link). The targeted and specialised support which has been made available is regarded as critical to develop ensure growth with the sector to support the business themselves and the wider rural economy within the National Forest.

 

Woodland Economy Business Support (WEBS)

11. The WEBS programme, delivered in the Leicestershire and Derbyshire areas of the National Forest, aimed to develop new and existing forest related businesses within the East Midlands area of the National Forest by offering woodland and forest specific support and advice to woodland businesses, capital grants for new developments, woodland skills training, signposting to other business support providers, as well as free wood feasibility studies to local organisations considering installation of wood fuel boilers.

 

12. The programme awarded a total of £166,000 across 39 individual grant awards, supported the creation of 5 new businesses, helped to create or safeguard 24.5 jobs, provided training for 78 candidates, and provided a total of 23 wood fuel feasibility studies.

 

13. An independent evaluation identified that the WEBS programme, "not only impacted upon individual businesses but is also seen to have contributed positively towards wider social, economic and physical impacts many of which will only become evident in the longer term". It contributed significantly to the development of The National Forest economy by providing a range of business support activities. The findings from this research suggested that most businesses seek support locally and would not tend to seek business support from mainstream providers without significant encouragement.

 

14. Furthermore, the Programme provided practical business support and generated excellent networking opportunities encouraging businesses to increase their business knowledge and confidence, gain motivation, improve their sustainability and become more professional, and improve their publicity and marketing. For some businesses, the support provided through WEBS has also led to an increase in employment and of turnover.

 

15. Through a survey of WEBS beneficiaries the majority envisaged that their business would grow over the following 12-24 months with opportunities focusing mainly around the growing public interest and awareness of The National Forest and alternatives to fossil fuels, the growing public desire to buy locally and also the growth of the new woodland.

 

16. Finally the evaluation noted that there was ongoing demand and support for continuing a project like WEBS. Many businesses identified that it was essential and that in future support could be extended to cover other National Forest based sectors including sustainable tourism, education and training, arts and crafts, and food and drink.

 

Making Woods Work (MWW)

17. The Making Woods Work programme, funded by the NFC and emda, and delivered in the Leicestershire and Derbyshire areas of the National Forest, will deliver some elements of the unsuccessful LEADER bid and will build on the successes achieved through WEBS. We consider that this will be a highly successful programme and demonstrates the need for continued targeted support for the forestry and woodland sector. The agreed outputs for the programme include 150 businesses supported to improve their performance.

 

18. Through an appointed co-ordinator the programme will, alongside supporting the woodland economy, encourage greater collaboration and integration with other business sectors including tourism, energy, craft, sustainable construction, food and drink, and leisure and recreation. It will build upon the existing networks of woodland owners, managers, contractors and diversified farm businesses to ensure the continued growth and sustainability of the National Forest woodland and visitor economy.

 

19. Whilst the programme will not have access to capital grants, efforts will be made to ensure that there is signposting to relevant funding available elsewhere including the Rural Development Programme for England, Business Link (Solutions for Business), Leicestershire County Council and Leicestershire Rural Partnership.

 

20. Through WEBS support was provided to the annual National Forest Wood Fair which is held within Beacon Hill Country Park, Leicestershire. This support will be continued through the MWW programme. This is a key visitor attraction showcasing the woodland economy of the National Forest with the number of visitors increasing year on year. The event brings together a range of woodland contractors, managers and landowners, and local producers (food, crafts and woodland products).

 

National Forest Strategy, 2004-14

21. As part of our response to the National Forest Strategy, 2004-14 - mid-term review, we commented on the need for a continued dialogue with Leicestershire County Council's Passenger Transport Unit to ensure sustainable transport options within the Forest for residents and visitors, that the NFC should work closely with the Community Forums, administered through Leicestershire County Council, to ensure close engagement with local residents, and we endorsed the view that the NFC will have an important role in relation to the provision of green infrastructure in relation to proposed housing growth associated to Coalville.

 

22. Through the new National Forest Delivery Plan, 2009-14 we consider that the NFC has identified the correct priorities for the future development and management of the National Forest. We especially welcome the following actions,

 

· Development of a sustainable tourism strategy for the National Forest (T20)

· Development of a National Forest Transport Strategy (TR3) - we recommend that consideration should be given to ensuring a range of rural transport initiatives (Action TR3) and that discussions are held with Local Highways Authorities who are developing future Local Transport Plans

· Community involvement in managing woodlands (C13) - we recommend that this is developed alongside existing community engagement structures - including Community Forums

 

23. We hope that the above comments will be useful to the EFRA Committee as part of their inquiry.

 

4 January 2010