£6m of New Leader Funds for the Highlands
The Highland LEADER 2007-13 programme is set to benefit from £6m of EU/Scottish Government funding aimed at supporting community and economic development in rural areas.
The funding, under the LEADER programme, is the first tranche of money to be released under the £1.6 billion Scotland Rural Development Programme, designed to empower communities at the grass-roots level.
LEADER is divided into two main allocations - £38.5m for the whole of rural Scotland and an additional £19.2m of Convergence funding for the Highlands and Islands. The £6m allocation for the Highlands does not include a Convergence funding contribution and an announcement is awaited on this fund.
Councillor Carolyn Wilson, Chairman of The Highland Council’s Resources Committee, said: “This is a very welcome first tranche of money and is very much in line with our bid. This funding will allow communities to bid for money to support a wide range of local projects. We are now looking forward to the announcement on the Convergence funding and the money we will have available to invest in our communities.”
The Highland LEADER programme area will include all of the Highland Council area, except for the Settlement Development Area for Inverness (as given in the Local Plan) and the part of the Highland Council area within the Cairngorms National Park. The National Park will have its own LEADER Programme and has received an aware of £0.92m.
The Highland Council, on behalf of the Highland Wellbeing Alliance (HWA), will be responsible for co-ordinating the new programme, which will be delivered through a Highland Local Action Group (LAG) made up of a strategic partnership (reflecting the HWA membership) and a suite of local area partnerships.
Joint working with established groups and setting up others where they do not exist, will be a priority in the first year of the Programme and the Highland LAG will support the process. Local Development Plans are to be prepared and submitted to the LAG and, once these are approved, a fast track process will be put in place for local projects which stem from these plans. Applications which relate to the local area will be considered and determined by these local partnerships. The aim will be to delegate a significant proportion of the budgets and as much day-to-day responsibility as possible to the local level.
Interim arrangements will be established over the coming months to enable community groups with projects that are ready to go and which align with the Highland LEADER programme, to apply for grant. It is hoped that the Highland LEADER programme will be able to make its first call for project applications in June 2008.