Harrogate Borough Council
Menu
DEFRA Grants £100,000 to Nidderdale AONB
THE Nidderdale Area of Natural Beauty (AONB) has
today heard that their application for funding to the Department of
Environment Food and Rural Affairs has been successful and that
they have been granted £100,000 to support local
projects.
Called the AONB Sustainable Development Fund, the money will
be used to help ideas that can bring benefits to local communities,
the rural economy and the internationally important environment of
the AONB.
Councillor Les Ellington, Chairman of the AONB's Joint
Advisory Committee said: "This is really great
news. The fund will give businesses, community
groups, environmental organisations and others a chance to
demonstrate that local people can build a future for our community
based on the principle that our generation has a responsibility for
the next generation to come.
"The quality of life we hand over to our successors must be
just as rich as the one we enjoy today. This
money will allow us to experiment with new ideas that will get us
all closer to the goal of sustainable development that was first
agreed at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro."
The Fund will be open for business from today onwards and is
initially for twelve months, although DEFRA has indicated that the
Fund will be renewed in 2006 and again in
2007.
In the meantime, the AONB is looking for ideas and project
sponsors capable of developing ideas that can be brought on line by
March 2006. Elsewhere in the country, the
funding has been used to support community transport projects,
green waste recycling schemes, training, community-based renewable
energy developments, sustainable tourism, environmental festivals
and much, much more.
If you've got an idea, even if you're not certain if it
will fit, give the AONB Office a ring and they'll try their best to
help you make it fit. Grants may be made up to
80% of scheme costs, and you can use help in kind to provide the
match. So make sure your idea is first in the
queue by contacting the AONB on 01423 712950 ().
ENDS
MEDIA CONTACT: Councillor Les
Ellington is available on 01423 712461. Further
information is available from Mr Paul Burgess, Nidderdale AONB
Officer on 01423 712950.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Nidderdale AONB works to conserve and enhance the area's natural beauty whilst supporting local people's economic and social needs. The AONB team reports to a Joint Advisory Committee which includes representatives from a wide range of local and national organisations including parish councils, landowner interests and conservation bodies.