Tourism and Attractions
As more people look closer to home for relaxation and leisure the massive potential of the green infrastructure and a large population are clear for any developer to realise the potential.
Actions: Development of service pack, better linkage to The Mersey Partnership and promotion of availability.
Beneficiaries:All established or emerging rural attractions which hold people in the rural economy.
Development opportunities
| Promotion, marketing, skill development, facility improvement | |
| Evidence:Key STEAM figures 2006 | SWOT: Limited promotion of rural Merseyside as a location for business. |
| Skill development | |
| Evidence: The Mersey Partnership | SWOT: Higher levels of economic activity, especially amongst women in rural and mixed wards, significant tourism and recreational activities in the rural areas, planning and development control cited as a major constraint on rural businesses. |
| Facility improvement | |
| Evidence: Tourism and Leisure (Climate change and the Visitor Economy: the challenges and opportunties for England's Northwest 2006) | SWOT: Strategic location with excellent inter-regional connectivity, rural Merseyside is not taking advantage of high quality agricultural land to maximise farm incomes. Close proximity between town and country – opportunity to increase levels of urban / rural engagement. Significant tourism and recreational activities in the rural area; increasing focus on Green Infrastructure. The number of potential opportunity sites within the rural area located near local service centres. Development of Wirral, the coast and biodiversity as tourist attractions. Existing and popular recreation sites within the rural space. |
Throughout the thematic approach accessibility, sustainability and viability need to be the guides to continue growth and development in a sympathetic approach to enhance and adds to the stunning natural assets that Merseyside holds.
Proposed intervention
Proposed intervention for Support Mersey grant is 40% to a maximum of £100K. The minimum grant level is £2k for a £5k project, Eligible expenditure is an invoice supported by a cheque of bank transfer with evidence of defrayment from a bank statement. CASH PAYMENTS are ineligible items of expenditure.
The project has to demonstrates additional turnover and Gross Value Added (GVA) this a measure of a business that is made up of wage costs, depreciation, interest payments and profit.
Funding is only available to trading enteritis (sole traders, partnerships, Limited companies, social enterprises, charities and cooperatives).
Download expression of interest form (200kb WORD DOC)
Contact for further information
Help@merseyruralleader.org.uk
Tel 01514432297
Eligible Activity
- Grants towards small scale capital work
- Feasibility studies and start up revenue
- Cost of establishing a collaborative initiatives
- Marketing support and market development activities, directly linked to an investment under the measure
- Technical support
- Support for non productive investment for public access under Environmental Stewardship to assist in providing educational and recreational benefit to the public
While a definitive list of diversification activities cannot be provided, domains that might be supported could include:
- Retailing, manufacturing or service industries, including self-made products, recreation, equestrian and creative industries (for example, artisan crafts, sculpture);
- environmental services, including the traditional trades required to maintain and enhance the landscape;
- Renewable energy, including storage/supply of wood fuel (planting support and forestry processing activity are eligible under other measures).
Targeted Groups and Users
The main groups assisted by the thematic approach will be:
- Primary Producers
- Producers and distributors in to food chain
- Food chain integration and sustainability
- Enterprise looking for environmental improvement
- Enterprise seeking resource efficiency
- Woodland management and biomass producers
- Equestrian
- Tourism and visitor attractions
Special Help for farming families to diversify
Support under this measure will only be available to members of a farm household as defined38:
"a natural or legal person or a group of natural or legal persons, whatever legal status is granted to the group and its members by national law, with the exception of farm workers. Where a member of the farm household is a legal person or group of legal persons, that member must exercise an agricultural activity on the farm at the time of the support application."
Support will be provided through:
- Grant aid towards the costs of capital investment;
- Start-up revenue costs (if such support involves salary costs, this investment will be degressive if it is spread over several years);
- Market research and feasibility studies, where these are linked to the investment to be made;
- Marketing support, product development, branding and design costs;
- Technical support to help new businesses become established and to help existing businesses to consolidate and expand.
- Enhancing environmental performance and reducing waste.
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