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East Midlands Rural Action Plan 2007-2013
What is it?
This Plan is a single coherent regional rural policy framework and action plan. It highlights the priorities, actions, outcomes and delivery partners at a regional level. This document will provide the region’s focus for action, enabling others to challenge and contribute to the delivery of the outcomes. At sub regional level the actions are indicative to enable organisations to further develop and tailor them to their local circumstances.
The Rural Action Plan sets out a high level vision for the rural East Midlands in 2013 and identifies the following policy areas as requiring ongoing focus and a step change to improve delivery for the benefit of rural areas, businesses and communities.
The priority aims are:
- Improving access to affordable rural housing
- Increasing the quality of the region’s green areas (Green Infrastructure)
- Improving enterprise, innovation and employment
- Improving accessibility to jobs and services
- Developing active communities
- Supporting land-based rural businesses
- Addressing climate change
How will it help?
The plan will help to align resource allocations by Defra and other partners towards the priorities identified. It will also help in securing greater coherence between rural policy and other regional strategies and delivery plans, and in achieving better alignment between regional delivery and local delivery.
The Rural Action Plan can play a valuable role in influencing the content of Local Area Agreements to ensure they work to address rural issues effectively.
The East Midlands Rural Action Plan will also function as a guide to the implementation of the Regional Economic Strategy in rural areas and market towns.
How will we know it works?
To drive forward the delivery of this Rural Action Plan, a Regional Rural Board will be set up by April 2007 to bring together key delivery bodies within the region. The East Midlands Rural Affairs Forum will monitor progress and will also be the channel for stakeholder engagement and ongoing consultation on the implementation of this Rural Action Plan.
The Rural Action Plan covers the period up to 2013 (linked to European Funding) but will be reviewed on a regular basis, and at least every three years. Progress will be reported upon annually through EMRAF.
The Rural Action Plan is complemented with an evidence base – ‘The Rural East Midlands in 2007’ – a summary of which is published alongside this plan. The evidence base will be capable of being updated more regularly than this plan and will be an important source for measuring progress on outcomes.
The evidence provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges and opportunities facing the region's rural areas. It will therefore be a valuable source of information and reference.
A Summary report can be downloaded here.
A full evidence base will be available (from March 2007) to download from the Intelligence East Midlands website at
www.emintelligence.com.
Longer term mechanisms for identifying and sharing good practice within the region in relation to taking forward the aims and objectives of this Rural Action Plan at the sub-regional and local level are currently being developed for implementation later in 2007.
Vision and Priorities
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Our overarching vision for 2013 is of a region in which rural areas are a vibrant place for people to live, work and visit,
with:
- a thriving rural economy
- quality services, accessible to all
- a high quality environment
- sustainable and inclusive communities
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Contacts
For more information about the East Midlands Rural Action Plan, please contact:
Derk van der Wardt, EMRAF Co-ordinator
dvanderwardt@nottsrcc.org.uk
01623 727600 / 0115 971 2508
To order a (free) copy of the plan, please contact:
Lynn Hage, EMRAF Communications Officer
lhage@nottsrcc.org.uk
01623 727600
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