Rural Economy Officer
Leicestershire County Council
£22,218 - £24,576

Chief Executives Department, County Hall, Glenfield
Job Reference Number: 461CE
Closing Date 15th February 2010, Temporary until 30th September 2012

To assist in identifying, developing, promoting and implementing arrangements to enhance the coordination and effectiveness of the rural economy in Leicestershire through the delivery of the Leicestershire Rural Partnership’s (LRP) INSPIRE Leicestershire programme. To support the work of the County Council and key partnerships, in particular the LRP, Leicestershire Together (the Local Strategic Partnership for the county) and the District Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs).

Essential Requirements:

• Educated to degree (or equivalent) level in a relevant subject or significant level of work experience relevant to the essential criteria
• Experience of developing, implementing, managing and evaluating projects
• Experience of collaborative working with others to ensure the achievement of key objectives and the best use of resources, including through project steering groups
• Experience of researching and reviewing specific issues and analysing information and data to inform delivery

For informal enquiries please telephone Matthew Kempson on 0116 3056179

An on-line application form can be found at http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/jobs/job_detailpage.htm?id=184707

The Rural Action Plan takes into account of recent economic changes and focusses on four new priorities areas:

• Sustainable and Inclusive Communities (Including Housing)
• A Thriving Rural Economy
• Quality Services Accessible to All
• High Quality Rural Environment

An electronic copy can be downloaded at www.ruralaffairs.org.uk/uploads/plan/Framework.pdf

Please contact Lynn Hage, EMRAF Communications Officer, on 01623 727600 if you would like a hard copy of the document.

We are pleased to announce the availability of £400,000 worth of funding to support businesses in Leicestershire’s market towns and rural areas up to October 2012.

Building on the successes of former Rural Business Support Programme and Market Towns Initiative, the INSPIRE Leicestershire programme will provide much needed support to help deliver the Leicestershire Rural Partnership’s economic priorities contained within the Leicestershire Rural Strategy, 2007-14. The programme is jointly funded by the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and Leicestershire County Council.

Full details, including the funding criteria, eligibility and application process, can be found on the LRP’s Oakleaves website at www.oakleaves.org.uk/inspire

Other elements of the programme will include support for businesses partnerships within market towns and rural centres, and funding to support some of our key rural sectors.

For further information please e-mail matthew.kempson@leics.gov.uk , tel: 0116 305 6179 or ruralgrants@leics.gov.uk , tel: 0116 305 5673.

Leicestershire was the main featured destination in the BBC's most recent Country Tracks programme. The show spotlighted Dickinson & Morris pork pies and the biodiversity in and around Bardon Hill.
You can watch it again on the BBC i-player http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00q2mdn#synopsis

The latest Rural Digest is now available: Download

East Midlands Development Agency (emda) is pleased to announce a one day conference, being held at the Newark Showground on the 26th January 2010, to showcase the funding opportunities available for land based businesses through the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE).

Come along to this free event to find out how RDPE could support your business, with practical, real life project examples explained by successful RDPE applicants from the East Midlands.

Individual workshops will be held on key RDPE topics including:

• Livestock
• Diversification & New Opportunities
• Woodfuel & Forestry
• Renewable Energy & Water Resource Efficiency

To book your place, or if you would like further information, please go to www.kc-jones.co.uk/rdpe or call the event hotline on 01332 224505.

A series of four regional evening seminars are being held offering guidance to landowners who are looking to set up or expand their rural businesses.

The seminars, which are being hosted by the Country, Land and Business Association and sponsored by emda, will also outline the planning system, along with any available sources of grant funding

The seminars are being held on:

• 30 November at the Lincolnshire Oak Hotel, East Road, Sleaford, Lincs NG34 7EH
• 1 December at Newark Showground, Winthorpe, Newark, Notts NG24 2NY
• 7 December at Sunley Management Centre, Park Campus, Boughton Green Road, Northampton NN2 7AL
• 8 December at Conkers, Rawdon Road, Moira, Swadlincote, Derbyshire DE12 6GA

Registration for all the events is from 6.30pm and the seminars will run until after 9pm. Tickets for these events are £7.50 per person. Further details, including a booking form, are attached.

Grants of up to £500 are available now for organisations and projects which are working to bring different groups of people together in Leicestershire.

The new ‘Communities Together’ grant is intended to support community and voluntary organisations who are involved in local projects which:

• play an active role in getting different communities and groups of individuals together to increase understanding and communication
• promote inter-cultural education and relations
• introduce and engage new audiences, organisations and community groups to each other.

Eligible projects will be able to demonstrate their success in increasing cohesion and understanding between people from different age, faith and belief groups or of different abilities, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity and gender.

The grant could be used to fund the promotion or development of local projects, workshops or training sessions for different community groups, consultation events, sporting events and much more.

The ‘Communities Together’ Grant Fund is open to projects operating in Leicestershire and applications will be assessed on a monthly basis.

For further information e-mail either Noel Singh or Tom Fisher

The latest report from ACRE with regard to rural community buildings highlights the success of volunteer management of these facilities but highlights a fragile future. To read more please download the attached ACRE press release and the report itself.

In order to give this information a local context the Leicestershire & Rutland Rural Community Council have extracted the following statistics from the report covering halls in both Leicestershire & Rutland:

• 69% have taken steps to improve energy efficiency although none have installed sources of renewable energy. 71% say that they are actively trying to save resources.
• 60% of halls are planning for major improvements over the next 5 years of which 86% will have to apply for grant funding. 93% carry out small repairs and routine maintenance themselves.
• 21% say they plan to develop their halls for statutory or other services. However 61% state that funding could not be found to develop the hall how they wished and 31% could not find volunteers needed to develop the hall.
• 50% have sought assistance from the Rural Community Council over the last 5 years of which 88% rate the service as excellent or good, 9% satisfactory and 3% could not recall!

For further information about the services offered by the Rural Community Council for village halls locally please contact jmoore@ruralcc.org.uk

(Pictured is the recently renovated Seagrave village hall.)

Centre Screen, the mobile community cinema scheme for Leicestershire, are hosting two events for current and potential volunteers.

These events will give us the chance to update you on developments, review the past year and allow you to give us feed back. It’s also an opportunity for people who have not yet had Centre Screen visit their community to find out how it works. These events are great for meeting fellow volunteers to swap hints & tips and to find out what will be the big films over the next few months.

The Monday event will be held at the brand new Phoenix Square, the new base for Centre Screen, which will have only just opened to the public a few days earlier.

• Saturday 21st November from 2.30pm to 4.30pm at Barkby Village Hall, 19 Beeby Road, Barkby, LE7 3QB
• Monday 23rd November from 6pm to 8pm at Phoenix Square, 4 Midland Street, Leicester. LE1 1TG

For further information, directions to the venue and to book your place please e-mail: pete.grosch@phoenix.org.uk or ring 0116 242 2845.