Rural South West
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Responsibility for the elements of the programme that have been
delivered by South West RDA since the programme started transfers
to Defra on 1 July. The RDA has written to all projects informing
them of this on Defra’s behalf –
the full text of the letter is available here.
Many of the staff who have been involved in RDPE will be
transferring to Defra, and will become the Defra RDPE Delivery Team
South West. The main office base will be:
Clyst House,
Winslade Park,
Clyst St Mary
Exeter EX5 1DY
Contact details for individual staff are being finalised, so
emails sent to addresses @southwestrda.org.uk will be forwarded to
the new Defra email addresses for some time after transfer. The new
central mailbox for the team is rdpedeliverysouthwest@DEFRA.GSI.GOV.UK
The RDPE website will remain in use for a short time after the
transfer date. Thereafter, information on the programme will be
posted in a new RDPE section of the main Defra website which is
currently under development.
The South West is the most rural region in England - 34 per
cent of its population lives in rural areas. Whilst the types
of industries represented in the region’s rural and urban areas are
broadly similar, rural areas have a larger share of micro and small
businesses compared to urban areas and rural businesses tend to be
older than their urban counterparts. Rural businesses make an
important contribution to the South West’s economy. According to
analysis carried out by the South West RDA, around 26 per
cent of the region’s gross value added is attributable to its
rural areas. Although agriculture’s contribution to the rural
economy has declined considerably over recent decades, it still
plays a significant role in shaping the character of our region’s
rural areas - three quarters of the South West’s total land area is
part of an agricultural holding.
South West RDA's support for South West England’s rural
areas
We recognise that that our region’s rural communities and
businesses are very diverse and in such a large rural region, we
have needed to give appropriate consideration to rural concerns in
policy development and delivery. Our core region-wide activities
have used the same delivery mechanisms for both rural and urban
areas, such as
Business Link and the South West Manufacturing Advisory
Service. However we worked hard to ensure that such services
focused on individual business needs (both rural and urban) and
that they can appreciate and accommodate local differences.
In order to support our work in the region’s rural areas, the
South West RDA has had its own Rural Advisory Group, chaired by the
Agency’s Board member with special responsibility for rural issues.
This Group has helped the Agency to ensure that its policies and
activities take proper account of rural issues, and was made up of
a broad range of regional rural stakeholders with expertise in many
different areas.
With these core activities now coming to an end, rural business
support remains available through the Rural Development Programme
for England (RDPE). The South West RDA has invested £157
million of this European rural development funding in the region
and we are now working to transfer these responsibilities onto
different bodies to administer until the programme closes in
2013.
RDPE funding aims to provide business support and advice; to
promote sustainable farming, forestry and agri-food businesses; and
to support sustainable rural communities.