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.

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 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.

Local Action for rural communities

What is Local Action?

'Local Action' is the community-led element of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), which implements the LEADER principles developed under previous EU funded programmes.

The core objectives of Local Action are to:

  • Address economic under performance.
  • Improve the provision and access to services as a means of tackling disadvantage.
  • Harness the wider economic value from sustainable environmental quality.
  • Develop local governance and delivery capacity in rural areas.

Local Actions builds on the activities supported through other parts of the RDPE.

Man selling his jams at a farmers market

Rural computer training