PROJECT IDEAS FOR EU FUNDING IN THE DORSET LOCAL ENTERPRISE AREA FOR 2014-2020
Government has asked Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to draw up growth strategies for the use of EU programmes for 2014-2020. This will be known as Dorset LEP area Structural and Investment Framework (SIF) Strategy.
Stakeholders are asked to identify priorities and activities that will deliver local growth as part of this Strategy. If you are interested in participating, please complete the form over page outlining your project idea and its alignment to the Thematic Objectives.
At this stage, the single A4 page form for each project idea will be sufficient. Please do not send more than this or background papers. Additional information will be sought if needed. There will be a full application process later.
The indicative financial allocation by Government to support the strategy has not yet been received but as a guide, you should think about:
· Small projects – up to £50,000 total cost
· Medium project – up to £250,000
· Large projects – from £250,000 to £2,000,000– projects up to £5,000,000 will be considered in very exceptional circumstances where an activity would make a major contribution to growth and jobs and transform the economy.
SIF Funding could be expected to contribute up to 50% of this total cost with the remained coming from your own resources or other UK funding.
Please note that an indication of interest at this stage is no guarantee that your activities will be included in the final strategy. This will depend on availability of funding and whether your activity matches the emerging growth priorities of the Strategy –these will be chosen from a selection of the following 10 Thematic Objectives:
1. Innovation
2. ICT
3. Enhancing the Competitiveness of SMEs
4. Low carbon
5. Climate change
6. Protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency
7. Promoting sustainable transport and removing bottlenecks in key network infrastructures
8. Promoting employment and supporting labour mobility
9. Promoting social inclusion and combating poverty
10. Investing in education, skills and lifelong learning
The objectives in bold are the Government’s priorities.
Government’s preliminary guidance on SIF growth strategies can be found at: http://www.dorsetlep.co.uk/.
Further detailed guidancethat will inform the strategy development process and might impact on the type of activity that can be supported is expected at the end of June 2013. The forms are issued based on the preliminary guidance to allow maximum time to engage in the process.
Key Dates:
26 July 2013 Forms to be returned to:
July 2013 – Notification of SIF funding indicative allocation
End Sept 2013 – Submission of Dorset LEP’s Initial SIF Strategy
January 2014 - Submission of Dorset LEP’s Final SIF Strategy
Project promoters will be notified of the Dorset LEP’s submitted initial SIF Strategy by email
Dorset LEP area Structural and Investment Framework (SIF) Strategy for 2014-2020
Initial Project Proposal
Project/Idea: (Please give a brief title)
Dorset – Making walkers welcome.
Walkers using the SWCP spend £71 million annually in the local economy (SWCP Team research 2012), which supports over 1500fte jobs mainly in SMEs. This could be increased and spread over a wider area through a project to make Dorset a year round destination for walkers.
Dorset has the key ingredients to achieve this;
· A stunning landscape,
· Is quick and easy to reach from London and the South east, and so is ideal for short breaks
· Has underutilised out of season accommodation capacity,
· Has better weather compared to traditional walking destinations such as the Lake District
· Has numerous interesting places best explored on foot (the Jurassic Coast, a rich heritage ranging from Bronze age monuments found along the South Dorset Ridgeway through to the industrial heritage of Portland, and wildlife hotspots of the heaths and downland).
The areas that are in need of investment are:
· improving the quality of the network of circular walks and the adjacent countryside within the coastal corridor, and other key walking areas to match the standard of the Coast Path, to ensure they are easy to follow, with main routes free of deep mud year round – these are key requirements identified by interviews with over 2400 visitors undertaken by the SWCP Team.
· Improved information for visitors about walking routes and the interesting places they pass. In particular circular routes and one way walks with the return leg using public transport.
· Provide training/familiarisation for local businesses and local community / trade groups, helping to achieve a sense of place, route familiarisation, and promotion of walking opportunities, so that in future they are able to undertake the bulk of the promotion to consumers.
This will improve access for visitors, help them gain more enjoyment and understanding from their visit and in doing so help local businesses such as accommodation providers, shops, pubs and restaurants to thrive.
1.What are your contact details?Name: Mark Owen
Organisation: SW Coast Path Team
Address: c/o Devon County Council, AB3 Lucombe House, County Hall, Exeter, EX4 4QD
Email:
The project will mainly be delivered by the SW Coast Path National Trail Team, in conjunction with Dorset Countryside Service and the National Trust. The project will also work closely with other organisations including the Jurassic Coast WHS Team, SW Coast Path Association, Dorset AONB and Dorset Wildlife Trust to ensure it complements the work they are undertaking.
2.Activity: What do you want to do & When?
The project will contain 4 discrete but complementary areas of work:
a. The bulk of the budget will be used to expand and enhance the current apprenticeship schemes run by Dorset Countryside Service and the National Trust, in conjunction with local colleges. It is proposed to establish 4 teams (each consisting of 1 supervisor + 3 trainees) who whilst gaining skills (NVQs) and experience in traditional craft skills, will create a legacy of a greatly improved local path network. The work will include path improvements such drainage and surface improvements and improved waymarking, heritage (e.g. stone walling) and wildlife habitat enhancements, developing additional easy access routes. Together these will provide a year round high quality walking experience throughout the coastal corridor to suit a wide range of abilities and interests.
b. Information provision; Building on the work undertaken by the SWCP Team and others during the RDPE Unlocking our Coastal Heritage project, information about walks will be further improved; additional routes will be added, existing routes will be updated where necessary, and as mobile phone technology improves rich media added. This information will be made available in print, but mainly online, with the capability for businesses and other organisations to easily embed the walk information on their own websites (and apps), and for users to find out about them and quickly download them on their smart phone when they arrive at a car park or transport hub. This work will be led by the SWCP Team, as this will enable a consistent offering to be provided throughout the region and enable IT development costs to be shared over a wider area.
c. Business & community development; Key to the long term success of the project is to get buy-in from the tourism industry to promote the area themselves to walkers. This work has been started by the SWCP Team and the Jurassic Coast WHS Team, and has received a positive response from businesses who they are working with to improve the information about walks they provide to guests and these businesses have also contributed funds to local path improvements. However there is still much to be done, and due to lack of capacity to date only a small proportion of businesses have been involved. Work is underway (but only has funding until end of 2013) to create a package of advice and resources for individual businesses to use to improve their competiveness in attracting visitors. This will include information on; why it’s worth marketing to walkers (and cyclists), the facilities walkers are seeking, advice on marketing, and the resources that the SWCP Team and others can provide to help (e.g. detailed info about local walks). As part of this communities will also be encouraged, and where necessary given support and mentoring to join the Walkers Welcome are Welcome network of towns and villages (see www.walkersarewelcome.org.uk), and hold events such as combined walking& local food festivals. The Walkers are Welcome network and festivals are a tried and tested method of attracting additional visitors and once properly established, if led by local communities can be self-sustaining. As with the information provision, to enable the development costs and the benefits to be shared over a wider area, this work will be led by the SWCP Team.
d. Use the Isle of Portland to bring all three of the above areas of work together into a focused, geographically defined area and seeing how this more concentrated package of 'Making walkers welcome' delivers local growth. Portland is at the heart of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site but contains three of the most deprived areas in Dorset. Portland's offer in terms of geodiversity, wildlife and industrial and military archaeology is unique but the access network, away from the Coast Path, is in need of improvement. The Portland-focused 'package' would aim to deliver local growth by turning Portland into a year-round walking destination. Investing in a work team to provide quality access provision and environmental enhancements, fostering a bottom up approach to developing the 'Walkers are Welcome' concept on the Isle (with local volunteers being trained as guides) and developing an annual walking/food festival, will build on the Isle's tourism offer and encourage visits throughout the year.
These projects are proposed to run for 5 years, and potentially could start from April 2014.
3. What growth outcomes will be achieved?
Because of the diffuse nature of the benefits that the SWCP and walkers bring, and the impact of external factors from year to year, it is challenging to give a precise estimate. However a good indication can be obtained from the research undertaken as part of the monitoring the Unlocking our Coastal Heritage project. This estimated the growth in annual spend by users of the SWCP in Dorset rose by 8.4% from £66.2 million in 2010 to £71.7 million in 2011 – in the same period overall tourism spend in Dorset rose by 6.2%.
This doesn’t include health and well being benefits, or the advantage that a high quality environment with good opportunities for recreation provides in attracting businesses to locate in an area.
4. Stage of development:
Project ready to go / Under development / Concept being discussed / Idea only
x / x
5.Funding
Total cost / Contribution needed (up to 50%) / Other sources of funding you have / Where will this be from?
Approx£1.5 million over 5 years / (£)750,000 / (£)Under development / See below
Costs for this project are being worked up, as is the potential split between funders, and subject to this there is potential to scale it up or down by changing the number of teams of apprentices and the timescale. Potential funding sources being investigated are:
· National Trust & Dorset Countryside: In kind staff input &financial contribution towards materials used for path & other environmental improvements.
· SW Coast Path Association: This is a charity, who with help from the SWCP Team in 2013 ran its first large scale fund-raising event, the Great South West Walk. This raised over £100,000 from individuals and businesses towards Coast Path improvement projects. In light of this and the success of other fundraising undertaken with local businesses by the SWCP Team delivered through the Unlocking our Coastal Heritage project the SWCPA is aiming to continue delivering this level of support in future.
· Coastal Communities Fund: The SWCP Team are aiming to submit a bid in 2014 to replicate this project in other LEP areas to make the Southwest, and particularly coastal areas, a year round destination for walkers. If successful this would cover the regional coordinated elements (Information provision & business and community development) and some of the path improvement work.
· There are also many smaller funding sources that will be explored as the project develops to ensure the LEP investment goes as far as possible. To demonstrate how this can be achieved the commercial partnership element of the Unlocking our Coastal Heritage project is set to deliver by the end of the project (Dec 2013) over £1 million of SWCP improvement projects. The sources of this funding are:
o £432,000 (43%) RDPE (main funder of the overall UCH project)
o £330,000 (33%) Private sector funding – contributions from businesses and National Trust
o £95,000 (10%) Natural England
o £88,000 (8%) SWCP Association- raised from the public (excluding money they’ve raised from businesses as this is included in the £330k above)
o £62,000 (6%) Other public sector organisations (e.g. contributions from Town & Parish Councils, Business Improvement Districts etc.)
6. Support for SIF priorities: Which SIF Thematic Objective(s) will the project/idea support?
1. Innovation
2. ICT
3. Enhancing the Competitiveness of SMEs / Through help with product development (year round walking destination) + tools to enable them to market this, leading to increased turn-over.
4. Low carbon / Walking is a low carbon form of tourism
5. Climate change / The increasingly wet summers, means that some well-used sections of the path network requires investment in drainage or surfacing if they are going to be used by ‘casual’ walkers
6. Protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency / The work undertaken by the apprentice teams will leave a legacy of an enhanced natural environment
7. Promoting sustainable transport and removing bottlenecks in key network infrastructures / Information provision will encourage walkers to use public transport both to travel to& from Dorset and within the area
8. Promoting employment and supporting labour mobility / Through training of apprentices and also through long-term jobs created and sustained in the tourism industry resulting from growth in out of season trade.
9. Promoting social inclusion and combating poverty / The apprentices will provide opportunities for young unemployed people to gain training, and the project having a particular focus on the disadvantaged areas on Portland.
10. Investing in education, skills and lifelong learning / Training provided to apprentices, volunteers, community groups and businesses in a range of transferable skills.
Please indicate all objectives the project idea will impact
Further details of these Objectives can be found at: http://www.dorsetlep.co.uk/news/events/eu-funding/
PLEASE RETURN TO: Trevor Hedger BY 26th July 2013