A SERIES of public meetings are being held to help breathe fresh life into North Yorkshire's rural communities – and the nearest to Scarborough is in Burniston, next week.
The LEADER funding scheme was set up to assist rural communities to improve the quality of life and economic prosperity of their local area through small-scale innovative projects.
It will be funded by the European Commission and the Department fo
r Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for six years. The North Yorkshire group, headed by the North York Moors National Park Authority, is now preparing a Local Development Strategy which, if successful, is expected to start late this year.
Peter Barfoot, Director of Conservation at the North York Moors National Park, said: "Through the LEADER approach we have the chance to bid for money to enhance the quality of lives in our rural communities, so it's really important that people come and tell us what they think those priorities are.
Events like this are important to make sure that local communities are involved in identifying issues and voicing their needs. "Although LEADER projects tend to be small scale – for example the average project cost probably won't be more than £20,000 – they can have a terrific impact on a local community.
The types of things that people might think about are village improvements, access to services, local culture and the heritage of the area."
The meetings are being held at Hovingham Village Hall tomorrow; Burniston Village Hall next Monday and Chop Gate Village Hall on Tuesday May 20.
Further information is available from Peter Barfoot on 01439 770657 or email
p.barfoot@northyorkmoorsnpa.gov.uk The full article contains 278 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
