The team are busy organising the Leicestershire Rural Conference 2012 – we have lots going on this year. The Conference is set to take place amongst the most beautiful rolling fields in Leicestershire at Scalford Hall, Melton. Pencil the 1^st March in your diary!

Taking place on the day we have interactive workshops based around 5 themes, we will hear from Adam Henson (Rural Farmer and BCC Countyfile presenter), and talks will take place around Leicestershire's BIG 7 rural priorities. This is an opportunity for people to influence the further rural activity.

Following the Autumn Statement, we're really pleased to see that Rural Economic Growth is back on the governments agenda. The LRP will be developing a proposal to apply to be one of the six pilot RGN areas, nationally. We are currently looking for specific rural employment sites in Leicestershire that can provide job growth, and will be looking to see what support can be provided to our priority sectors - Food and Drink, Tourism, Renewable Energy, and Knowledge Based Industries.

We're very pleased to have this new and revamped version of the oakleaves website going live. Look out for updates over he coming weeks and for the content to grow in the new year as we are able to tell you about all of the exciting projects the LRP is involved in.