All RDAs across England are closing by March 2012
(see transition and closure section).
With our resources reducing steadily, this page has not been recently updated and the information below may not be current.
If in doubt, please contact us directly.
Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE)
Latest News
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 contacts for the team are:
email: rdpedeliverysouthwest@DEFRA.GSI.GOV.UK.
telephone: 01392 266367
Further information: Defra's RDPE website
page.
Future RDPE delivery arrangements
Future delivery arrangements for Axes 1,3 and 4 of RDPE have
been announced and full details can be read on the RDPE
website.
About RDPE
The South West RDA is responsible for investing £157 million of
European rural development funding through the Rural Development
Programme for England (RDPE). This programme is managed nationally
by Defra with 80 per cent of the overall programme being
delivered by Natural England and the Forestry Commission.
For full details of RDPE in the South West please go to
www.sw-ruralgateway.info.
Through RDPE, the RDA is supporting a broad range of activities
from small-scale bespoke projects to regionally significant
strategic investments which fall under the following 7 themes from
the Regional Implementation Plan.
Business Support
There is a full range of targeted support for rural businesses,
including information, diagnostic and brokerage (IDB) services from
Business Link and more specialist advice on RDPE at county level
and for the forestry sector.
£9 million-plus of RDPE investment is targeting animal
health and welfare issues including a project offering advice on
Bovine Tuberculosis.
Direct grants for farm diversification projects, such as farm
shops and making use of redundant farm buildings.
Project officers are working in the region’s three upland areas
to support their livestock sector.
For more details see the approved projects on the RDPE
website.
Community and Social
Enterprise
Support is available to develop potential
capital projects that will improve access to rural services.
For more details see the basic rural services approved
projects section on the RDPE website
Community Led Development
15 Local Action Groups have been established, with a lifetime
allocation of £33 million in total. Local Action Groups support a
wide range of local projects from support for micro-businesses to
community shops.
For more details see the Local Action Groups page.
Resource Management
Advice is
available to assist farmers improve their profitability through
better management of resources. This advice programme was launched
in October 2009 and is delivered by Natural England and Business
Link . This programme is complimented by a small capital grant
scheme.
For more details see resource management on the RDPE
website.
Skills Development
This programme started with the extension of the successful
Vocational Training Scheme which has now been superseded by a new
skills programme designed to meet the objectives of the RDPE
Regional Skills Framework.
For more details see skills and training on the RDPE website.
Supply Chain and Adding Value
Over £11 million of RDPE investment has been allocated to
providing direct grants to businesses so that they can add value to
processing agricultural and forestry products. Grants approved so
far include a £5.7 million investment in the expansion of a dairy
business in Cornwall; a project to use miscanthus for horse
bedding; and processing timber for wood fuel.
For more details see adding value approved projects on the RDPE
website.
Sustainable Rural Tourism
Six region-wide strategic projects have been selected.
These six major interlinked initiatives will aim to boost the
economy in rural areas around key natural and historical features,
sites and trails and attract visitors who value the character and
heritage of the region.
For more details see sustainable rural tourism on the RDPE
website
Full details of RDPE in the region can be found at
www.sw-ruralgateway.info. Here you will also be able to learn about
the Biodiversity and landscape investment theme which is delivered
by other RDPE partners - Natural England and the Forestry
Commission.