Rural Capitals programme case study

With a strong focus on enterprise and improving rural economies the Rural Capitals programme will develop stronger, more diverse and resilient rural centres.

In April 2009, Yorkshire Forward launched the Rural Capitals programme. This builds upon the successes of the Renaissance Market Towns (RMT) programme and is one of Yorkshire Forward’s most important rural programmes.

Continuing the RMT programme

Yorkshire Forward will continue to support delivery of the RMT programme launched in 2002, focusing on projects that deliver direct economic outputs and will continue with its support for a delegated fund for small scale projects. By working closely with local stakeholders, our RMT programme helps to ensure that the region’s ‘rural capitals’ remain places where people can easily live, work, visit and invest.

Projects will have been identified in the RMT Masterplan and Strategic Development Frameworks and must be supported by the Town Team, which continue to play an important part of the rural capitals programme.

Helping rural economies

In the current economic climate it is more important than ever before for Yorkshire Forward to support our rural economies. Towns such as Richmond have been in a strong position to weather the financial storm thanks to the money invested by Yorkshire Forward’s RMT programme and our partners in a range of projects including the Heritage Partnership Scheme. This scheme has improved the appearance of Georgian buildings in the marketplace whilst bringing the redundant upper floors back into productive use, will continue to be supported under the Rural Capitals programme.

Moving forward we will be looking to support projects with an economic focus and a key part of this is our Enterprising Rural Capitals project. This programme aims to develop a network of high quality business space in some of the regions rural capitals. A report produced in 2008 for Yorkshire Forward by King Sturge
into rural business space, identified a number of towns where demand and regeneration need for business space were significant. Work is underway to develop the model to deliver this, which will aim to engage private sector partners to deliver and manage the business space facilities.

Rural Access to Opportunities programme

The Rural Access to Opportunities programme (RAOP) helps connect people with places, and more importantly, with work and training. The aim of the programme is to tackle rural unemployment, support rural enterprise and enable more people to access services. In South Yorkshire, for example, we are
supporting improvements in access to the Junction 35a industrial park through a regular bus service starting in Chapeltown. This route was identified as the best site for the service as Chapeltown acts as a transport hub for the South Yorkshire region. The 35a service started on the 26th October 2009.

Creating Low Carbon Rural Capitals

The Low Carbon Rural Capitals (LCRC) programme aims to pilot approaches to lower carbon settlements and economies in rural capitals. A scoping study was undertaken for Yorkshire Forward in 2008 by Arup to determine whether any of the regions’ rural capitals could sustain a pilot programme to trial new approaches to lower carbon settlements. Projects that could be supported would either be entirely new and untested, or untested in a rural setting. A shortlist of nine settlements was identified and following further discussions with Local Authority partners, a further shortlist of four settlements/groups of settlements was produced. A more detailed study to investigate implementation plan options for these settlements has been completed by Ursus.

There are 2 feasibility studies being developed for the LCRC programme investigating
opportunities for:

1. Power generation from an Oscillating wave column
2. Kelp farming.

The feasibility studies will recommend whether these schemes are deliverable and how these might be achieved. The projects chosen to proceed to the pilot/
feasibility stage will also have economic benefits with jobs created and the use of local supply chains in addition to their environmental benefits and demonstrate the diversity of the Rural Capitals programme.

Distinctive Rural Capitals

The Distinctive Rural Capitals programme is in the development stage and looks at helping our rural capitals realise their potential and consider what makes them different from other towns. A study was commissioned to assess how developing ‘distinctiveness’ can contribute to the vitality of rural capitals and how this could be supported in the Yorkshire & Humber region.

Distinctiveness is one way of attracting more visitors to a town and though many of our towns can already be considered distinctive, it is hoped that the research will encourage towns to look at their assets and think about how best to market these to visitors to boost local economies.

Regional Rural Capitals Development programme

This programme will develop research, capacity, events, pilot projects and skills support for partners on issues relating to development and delivery of the Rural Capitals programme. This will include seminars, symposiums, support for accessing Yorkshire Forward’s panel of expertise and access to research on rural capitals.

Funding

In a challenging economic climate the finances of all public agencies are being tightened and Yorkshire Forward is no exception. We continue to work hard with all our partners to ensure that key projects can go ahead.

More about this success story
To find out more about the Rural Capitals or Renaissance Market Towns programmes and to access the documents and research referred to please visit: www.yorkshire-forward.com/markettowns
Alternatively please contact:
Rhona Pringle
Yorkshire Forward
Victoria House
2 Victoria Place
Leeds
West Yorkshire
LS11 5AE
0113 3949618
rhona.pringle@yorkshire-forward.com