Round 5 of Coastal Community Fund is launched

Round 5 of the Governments Coastal Community Fund was launched in February 2018.

Dartmouth is a Coastal Community that needs this sort of financial support to allow for regeneration of the town and the creation of sustainable jobs. The town is suffering from reduced footfall in its core industry of Tourism and so it needs to take the initiative to launch a regeneration project that will create jobs in the town, and not necessarily tourism job’s.

As Chair of the Business Forum I applied for funding from the initial 2012 fund. My application was last minute and prepared in haste, but was based around the need for a strong transport link between Townstal and the lower town. Possibly an electric railway link or other advanced transport system. Bearing in mind we were in the middle of the discussions about the West Dart development of 400 new houses and as a member of the steering group the Forum’s concern was about the need to create jobs to support the residents of those houses.

The Forum was also concerned that we should not divide the communities in Dartmouth between the upper town and lower town. Today we could also expect a good transport link to help stimulate the footfall in the lower town by making it easier for visitors to access the lower town and for the resident community to enjoy the attractions of the riverside.

That application failed. So we started the Dartmouth BID project immediately after.

If you would like to play a part in applying for a share of this £40m funding please respond to this post. I would hope that the Dartmouth Chamber of Trade and Businesses would also respond. Perhaps the Town Council can take a lead in this project.

The Coastal Community Fund

In 2012 the Government introduced the Coastal Communities Fund (CCF) to support economic development projects in coastal areas across the UK.
Since the start of the CCF, they have awarded grants to 295 projects across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to a value of £174 million. These projects are forecast to deliver 18,000 direct and indirect jobs, and help attract over £316 million of additional funds to coastal areas.
The UK Government announced in 2015 that the CCF was to be extended to 2020/21, with at least £90 million of new funding available across the UK for the period 2017/18 to 2020/21. CCF Round 5 covers the period 2019-20 to 2020-21.

The CCF aims to support the economic development of coastal communities by promoting sustainable economic growth and jobs, so that people are better able to respond to the changing economic needs and opportunities of their area. Funding awards in excess of £50,000 are available for a wide range of applicant
organisations and projects which benefit coastal communities. Consideration will be taken of how plans for economic growth address local needs and
priorities, the number of jobs that will be created and their long-term sustainability.

Programme Outcome

All projects funded through CCF are expected to deliver the following outcome:

• Coastal communities will experience regeneration and economic growth through projects that directly or indirectly create sustainable jobs and safeguard existing jobs.

By outcome they mean the change that will come about as a result of your project. Round Five CCF in England will have around £40 million available for spend from April 2019 to end of March 2021.

To find out more about the fund there are guidance notes below from the GOV>UK website:

Documents

Coastal Communities Fund round 5: application form

Coastal Communities Fund round 5: guidance notes

Coastal Communities Fund round 5: guidance for Partnerships

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