Local partnerships - your opportunity to get a project off the ground

The 18 new local partnerships around Wales were given the go-ahead in July 2007 to prepare their business plans for the three-year period 2008-2010. The funding comes from Axis 3 and 4 of the rural development plan for Wales, 2007-2013, which includes up to £103 million in support for activities relating to local food and agri-environmental initiatives, tourism, training and skills, rural heritage and much more besides. To be included, projects have to be consistent with the local strategies, with local partnerships due to submit their business plans to WAG by the end of November.

Find out more ….

What are Axes 3 and 4?

Following the political uncertainties in early 2007, the Welsh Assembly Government is now moving ahead with the Rural Development Plan for Wales (RDP) for the period 2007-2013.

The RDP is built around four axes: Axis 1 will support Farming Connect, capital investment grants, marketing and processing grants and similar initiatives, while Axis 2 will support Tir Mynydd, the Organic Farming Scheme and other agri-environment schemes. Axes 3 and 4 will be targeted at rural development projects co-ordinated by local partnerships in Wales, with a focus on:

Enhancing the quality of life in rural areas and promoting diversification of economic activities through measures targeting the farm sector and other rural actors (Axis 3). Axis 3 projects will be more specific eg "Farmers market support" Enhancing the use of the Leader approach which provides a bottom- up, community driven approach using local partnerships to inform the implementation of the other three axes (Axis 4). Axis 4 projects can be drawn up as umbrella projects eg "Agri-food development" in order to meet the requirement that funds are used to support bottom-up initiatives. Around £103million will be available through local partnerships in Wales to support Axis 3 and 4 activities.

The main types of activity to be supported in Wales are:

Full details of the RDP Axis 3 and 4 proposals, which were used as guidance in preparation of local strategies, can be found here.

Why are organic projects relevant?

Organic food and farming is recognised both in the European Commission’s strategic priorities for rural development, and in the Welsh rural development plan for 2007-2013 (Part 1, p.56), as having cross-axis relevance in terms of its contribution to:

• a dynamic food sector focused on specialist, quality, premium markets (Axis 1);

• high environmental standards protecting soils, water and biodiversity; conserving non-renewable resources, and reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions – organic farming’s contribution is particularly encouraged through the Organic Farming Scheme, due to be re-launched soon with extra support for horticulture and other enhancements as part of Axis 2;

• providing opportunities for diversifying rural economies through links to agri-tourism, hospitality catering, renewable energy, recycling/composting initiatives and value added food processing (Axis 3);

• generating many examples of innovative, small-scale, pre-commercial projects relevant to Axis 4, supporting the other three axes.

Organic farming currently accounts for over 5% of Welsh agricultural land, including nearly 10% of Welsh arable land and more than 35% of Welsh horticulture. Both market demand and supply are currently growing strongly, providing opportunities for new entrants and new initiatives in most areas.

The priorities for developing organic food and farming in Wales, including a target of 10-15% of Welsh agriculture to be organic within the timescale of the new RDP, are set out in the second Welsh organic action plan covering the period 2005-2010.

What are Local Partnerships and how will projects be approved?

The18 partnerships, drawn up mainly on a local authority basis across Wales, have all submitted, and received approval for, local development strategies. Some local partnerships have published their strategies on the web (see below).

The stage now reached is that the partnerships have to request individual projects to be submitted by local groups and businesses this autumn (a few have already gone through this process). Each partnership group will then submit to WAG by the end of November a Business Plan which contains a suite of projects designed to deliver Axis 3 and Axis 4 of the RDP. These bids will then be assessed for eligibility. It is not until the results are announced in early 2008 that it will be apparent where the funds are available. It is envisaged that the first phase projects will start later in 2008 and continue for up to 3 years, with a second batch of projects to cover 2011-2013. Projects cannot span the two business plan periods, so if you do not get in now, your project may need to be less than three years in duration or wait for the second period.

You should also be aware that Axis 4 (Leader-type) proposals should relate to Axes 1 to 3 of the RDP, and be pre-commercial and innovative. If they are already a business proposition, they will not be eligible under this heading. However, given their ‘exploratory’ nature, they can be drawn up in a flexible way to allow unexpected directions to be followed. In contrast, Axis 3 proposals will be more tightly constrained with the expectation of specific outputs being delivered.

It is expected that WAG web-pages will be published soon with further details. Some additional guidance has been provided by WAG to local partnerships in the form of a Question and Answer document.

What should you do?

Given the November deadline, it is important that local groups start work NOW on developing project proposals to submit to their local partnerships. Proposals must take account of the local strategies, which are available from the relevant contact people below. If working on a project covering more than one local partnership, you need to be aware that the local strategies for each partnership may not be compatible, and you may need to focus on the most relevant local partnership.

Who to contact locally for information on local strategies and deadlines:

For more information contact the representative in your area from the list below.