LEADER - "Leading the Way" in Rural Lanarkshire

Rural North and South Lanarkshire have recently secured funding awards from the LEADER programme, part of the new Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) 2007-20013. The SRDP is the Scottish Government's £1.6 billion programme designed to help deliver outcomes in

• improved business viability
• enhanced landscape and biodiversity
• improved water quality
• tackling climate change
• thriving rural communities

North Lanarkshire has for the first time secured LEADER funding of £0.554M to spend in the Kelvin Valley area. South Lanarkshire has been awarded £1.39M and this will be used to build on the success of previous LEADER+ programme. These awards will be matched by public and private sector finance which will hopefully double the award, and the funding will be managed by Local Action Groups made up of public, private, community and voluntary sector representatives.

In South Lanarkshire the previous LEADER+ Programme was managed by the South Lanarkshire Rural Partnership (SLRP). The SLRP operates under the umbrella of Community Planning and brings together experience and expertise from local government, the business community, the health sector, agriculture, environmental agencies and the community and voluntary sectors. Operating out of Lanark, it was one of Scotland's most successful rural development initiatives aimed at assisting rural communities improve the quality of life and economic prosperity of their local area. In practice, LEADER adopts a grassroots approach to rural regeneration by encouraging and supporting community-led projects for local development.

Gordon Todd, the Council’s Economic Development Manager commented… ‘ It has established a real bottom-up and integrated approach to rural development in South Lanarkshire that has helped us establish local priorities for action alongside a commitment to making sure these are addressed and implemented’

Over the period 2002-2006, the LEADER+ Programme (which has now ended) within rural South Lanarkshire delivered a raft of much-needed, highly innovative initiatives ranging from demand-responsive community transport schemes, rural heritage projects, mobile training/re-skilling facilities, tourism events/festivals, environmental improvement schemes and the Rural Capital Grants Scheme for businesses to name but a few. ( Could supply some pics of events/ business work here if appropriate?)

Both LEADER awards are underpinned by integrated rural strategies to ensure focussed delivery on the ground, and cover economic development, environmental and social issues as part of a holistic approach to rural project delivery.

The new LEADER Programme 2007-2013, will be the key mechanism to enable both areas to support the rapidly changing rural economy - targeting resources where they will make the most difference, encouraging not just community capacity building but business diversification, positive land management and a plethora of other community-led initiatives as part of “joined up “ approach to rural regeneration.

Over the next 6 years, therefore, the programme co-ordinators will work closely with its partners, businesses, land managers, community groups and individual entrepreneurs to ensure stronger, sustainable rural communities.