Information Bulletin
Scottish Rural Development Contracts - Helping the Rural Community in Shetland
Public bodies in Shetland will work together in an attempt to help the agricultural sector and the wider rural community to understand how to apply for the new Rural Development Contracts – Rural Priorities. The new scheme will be introduced later this year by the Scottish Government as part of the new Scotland Rural Development Plan.
In Shetland, the scheme will be administered by a Regional Proposal Assessment Committee comprising members from Scottish Government’s Rural Payments and Inspections Directorate (RPID), Scottish Natural Heritage, Shetland Islands Council, HIE Shetland, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Forestry Commission for Scotland (FCS).
For several years the Shetland agricultural sector has derived considerable benefit from the Environmentally Sensitive Area Scheme and latterly the Rural Stewardship Scheme. These schemes were aimed at promoting environmental conservation and are being phased out in favour of the broader Rural Development Contracts measure, which includes a wider range of objectives - economic and social as well as environmental.
Rural Priorities is a new scheme, assessed under a new structure, with 32 different priorities to apply under. Applications must be made online with no opportunities for completing paper forms. At this stage the application form has not been published but it will be a two-stage process involving an initial ‘Statement of Intent’ before applicants are cleared to complete a detailed ‘Proposal’, which then goes through a formal assessment.
Given these changes and the continuing importance for the Shetland rural community to have access to external development funds, the Scottish Agricultural College, Shetland Crofting, Farming and Wildlife Group, Crofters Commission, HIE, SIC, Shetland College, Scottish Government’s RPID and SNH will work together to promote the Rural Development Contracts measure in Shetland. A series of 6 training events will be organised throughout Shetland at venues with internet access to show people how to access the online application and then use the menu of development objectives to best effect in their development plans. These training events will take place soon after the Government has published the full application procedure for Rural Development Contracts. For people interested in improving their basic computer and internet skills Shetland College will offer places on their Community Learning Network as a separate initiative. The online application process also emphasises the patchy availability of broadband in many rural areas. Anybody who finds that their ability to apply for Rural Development Contracts is hindered by poor broadband availability is encouraged to make this fact known to the Council’s Economic Development Service so that the case for improving the availability of broadband in rural Shetland can be strengthened.
For those people who need additional help, the services of Scottish Agricultural College and Shetland Crofting, Farming and Wildlife Group can be hired with some financial assistance being made available through the scheme. Private sector services will also be encouraged to act as agents in these circumstances. The Crofters Commission can assist community and collaborative projects through the application procedures. Should the demand for assistance exceed existing staff availability in any of these bodies an effort will be made to hire temporary specialists until the demand peak has passed.
Speaking on behalf of all the public bodies involved in the project, Douglas Irvine, from the Council’s Economic Development Unit, said “There is a responsibility upon the public sector to provide as much help as possible to assist small businesses, community groups and individuals in Shetland to access the funds that will be available under the Rural Development Contracts measure. The procedures are new and indicate the way in which this type of support will be offered in the future. We need to learn how to use the system and make sure that the agriculture sector and rural organisations can make full benefit of this new opportunity.”
More details on the support described in this statement will be provided immediately after the full information about the Rural Development Contracts measure is issued by the Scottish Government, which can be found at www.scotland.gov.uk/srdp.
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