LATEST NEWS - PLAIN ACTION FUNDING 20^th July 2011

Defra has informed the Plain Action Management Group that the funding for the programme is to be reduced from £2.5m to £1.928m, a reduction of 22.88%.

All of the Plain Action projects that have been approved following a full application will be funded. Plain Action staff will be contacting all the organisations with expressions of interest or applications pending in the next two weeks to discuss their particular situation.

Fleur de Rhe-Philipe, Chairman of the Plain Action Management Group says, “It is disappointing to lose this funding when we have enough projects to spend the original amount and with it the associated benefit the community would have gained.”

Plain Action has approved 33 projects with grants totalling £1.3m and has a further 35 projects in preparation with a value of £920k.

Plain Action is a rural development programme improving life for those living and working on and around Salisbury Plain and eastwards towards Andover.

It is a “Local Action Group” funded by EU and defra under the TRural Development Programme England (RDPE) over six years to 2013 and also supported by Wiltshire Council. It has £2.5m available. Plain Action is governed by local people representing the community partnership areas, businesses, the voluntary sector, the military establishment and Wiltshire Council.

Grants are awarded under three objectives

1. Skills and training
To maximise the skills, abilities, and opportunities of all those living and seeking work in the area, particularly in the context of the opportunities presented by the military establishment and the skills of those leaving it

2. Business and Employment
To strengthen the long term economic performance of the area by supporting initiatives that nurture enterprise, cross sectors and remove barriers.

3. Communities
To work for cohesive, stable and sustainable communities throughout the area by addressing current imbalances and geographical and social isolation.

Running through these objectives and ideally through all projects and activities are two themes:

• To increase understanding of the increasingly essential contribution of the military establishment to the prosperity of the area and to ensure full military/civilian integration of all activities including strategic planning
• To encompass the challenges and opportunities presented by climate change and environmental issues in the unique environment of Salisbury Plain