PAPER E
|
ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT, PLANNING, TOURISM AND LEISURE SERVICES SELECT COMMITTEE - 2 SEPTEMBER 2004 ISLE OF WIGHT ECONOMIC
PARTNERSHIP ACTIVITIES REPORT OF THE
PORTFOLIO HOLDER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, EUROPEAN AND UK REGIONAL AFFAIRS |
COMMITTEE: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, TOURISM AND LEISURE
SERVICES SELECT COMMITTEE
DATE: 2
SEPTEMBER16 DECEMBER 2003
2004
SUBJECT: REPORT ON ISLE OF WIGHT ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP
ACTIVITIES
REPORT OF HEAD OF CORPORATE POLICY AND
COMMUNICATIONSPORTFOLIO HOLDER FOR
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, EURPEAN AND UK REGIONAL AFFAIRS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(i)
(i) To
provide members with information on IWEP activities for the period to July 2004 July
– September 2003 to enable scrutiny of the management of the contract with IWEP, by the Executive.
(ii)
To enable
consideration by the Committee of what, if any, issues in relation to the discharge
of the economic wellbeing powers power the Executive.
(ii) .
(ii) To recommendask
Members to consider a change in
reporting arrangements for the financial year 2004 / 05 to enable more
wide ranging scrutiny of the approach to economic development by the Executive.
Select Committee
Members are requested to :
n
a) Note
the contents of the report.
(i) To receive information
from the Partnership, the
Portfolio Holder and the Head of Corporate
Policy and Communications Strategic Director
for Environment
Services,
about the performance, and management, of the contract with IWEP.
(ii) To receive further information from the same sources about
the discharge of the economic wellbeing powers by the Executive.
(iii) To make recommendations
to the Portfolio Holder, the Strategic Director for Environment
Services Head
of Corporate Policy and Communications and/or the Partnership about the performance and/or management of the contract
(iv) To
determine whether to add any enquiry into the discharge of the economic wellbeing
powers to the work programme of the Committee. b) Consider whether in
the future they wish to have general update reports from IWEP at 6 monthly
intervals, with the option to request more detailed reports on specific
projects (eg Cowes Waterfront) at other times.
BACKGROUND
1.
1
1.
Whilst
Management of the contract
between the IWEP and the Ccouncil is primarily the
responsibility of the
Executive, a
function discharged on a day to day basis through the Strategic Director for Environment Services Head of Corporate Policy and periodically through receipt of quarterly reports by the Executive. Qquarterly
Regular
reports have also been put before this Select Committee
over the past year, in order tor for
scrutiny:
(a)
(a)
eEnable scrutiny of
management of the contract by the Executive, and;
(a)
(b)
aAs the basis for future
scrutiny of the approach to economic development, in the round, by the
Executive.
1.
.
2.
2 In addition there have been
informal presentations by the Managing Director of IWEP to this
committee on
particular aspects of the company’s work and opportunities for discussion
between IWEP and Members to enable a greater understanding of both the economic
services delivered by IWEP and the relationship between IWEP and the Council.
Having gone through an extensive period of familiarisation
and clarification, Members may now wish to consider moving to a biannual
reporting cycle for this committee in the 2004 / 05 financial year. This would provide the opportunity to
receive a general report on IWEP activities twice a year, with the option to
request additional, more detailed progress reports on specific key projects
such as Cowes Waterfront at other times.
3.
3.
3 Appendix
1 provides an overview of covers the
activities allof IWEP as reported to the IWEP Board of Directors by the
Managing Directoractivities f in July 2004. It provides an overview of performance on
all IWEP activitiesor the period July – September
2003 and is not restricted to those which are funded by the
Council.
3.
Members
had particularly asked for information on the Ambassadors
Scheme and on progress against the PSA
targets which
the IWEP are delivering on
behalf of the Council. This
information is provided
in paras 22-25 (Ambassadors Scheme) and 26-28 (PSA
targets).
4.
4 This extra information allows the Executive to keep
under review the totality of the IWEP’s contribution to economic development
activity on the island and consider whether the Council's own contribution is
appropriate in relation to the activities undertaken by other agencies.
3.
5.
5 IWEP activities particularly worth noting described
in Appendix 1 are:
AIF (Area
Investment Framework) – the draft performance plan for this has now been
submitted to SEEDA, the Council and the LSP for comment with the LSP passing a
motion of support. The AIF will be the
key “business plan” for economic development activity on the Island for the
next few years. Identifying priorities
in this will be of paramount importance in obtaining funding from a variety of
sources to help implement projects and move the economy of the Island
forward. SEEDA have committed an
initial £800k towards the implementation of the plan, which will act as
leverage for other funding. The
Council’s dedicated External Funding Officer will play a key role in helping
identify and access other sources of money to implement the plan.
Cowes Waterfront – this continues
to make good progress and is seen as a flagship project, not just for the
Island, but for the SE region. It has
been re-confirmed that the overall initiative covers the whole of the Medina
Valley.
PSA Target 11 – this has been
the subject of previous reports, but in spite of various problems 75% of the
annual target has been achieved in 50% of the time (ie six months). Negotiations with ODPM continue to try and
resolve any potential problems with the delivery of this target (see QPMR
report to this meeting).
Leader+ - Two key projects
are now going ahead to provide business support and small grants to micro-businesses
in rural areas on the Island. As a high
percentage of the businesses on the Island fall into this category, it is an
important sector of the economy and deserves to have as much support as
possible.
Enterprise House – The Council have now agreed to enter into a new
15 year lease with the owners of Enterprise House and it is anticipated that
Council staff will be relocated there during October 2004. Close working relationships between the
Council and IWEP have also resulted both in a renegotiated rent for the Innovation
Centre and a reduction in the rateable
values of both properties.
Members may wish to note, in particular, the
changes on funding programmes on the Island, with SRB V and the Rural
Development Programme (RDP) ending in March 2004. It is a credit to the IWEP in generating activity on the Island
that the monies for both of these have been fully committed, with an extra
£400k made available under the RDP.
This will fund projects which have been held in reserve, details of which
will not be available until they have been confirmed by SEEDA. It is worth noting that other areas have not
been so successful in using their funding.
Cowes Waterfront continues to progress well and is
seen as a flagship development for the Island. This is a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate that with the
right support the Island has the ability to develop and deliver a complex, long
term project in a planned and strategic way, with the active participation of a
range of partners.
Other items worth noting are:
·The Isle of Wight
branding and marketing initiative is gathering momentum and support from a
range of key organisations on the Island.
·The Area Investment
framework (AIF), into which the Council has had considerable input. Papers have gone to Director’s Group to
ensure that priorities put forward will meet the objectives of Island Futures
and the Council. These will require
endorsement by the Executive.
RELEVANT PLANS, POLICIES,
STRATEGIES AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
6.
6.
6 The work undertaken by IWEP
contributes to the following:
·
Economic
Development Best Value Improvement Plan
·
Economic
Development PSA Targets.
6.
7.
7 N/A
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
6.
8 For the financial year 20043
/ 20045 the Council have contributed £1094,000 in
cash, in addition to which they have seconded staff as per the Service Level
Agreement. The Council
continue to honour their agreement to pay the rent on Enterprise House should
IWEP be unable to do so. This amounts
to £135,000 per year paid in quarterly instalments of £33,750.
8.
LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
9.9.
Legal implications are
as laid down in the Service Level Agreement between the Council and IWEP, and
the legal agreements between the same parties relating to the Council
guarantees for rent on Enterprise House and the Innovation Centre.
9 Taking steps to promote
the economic wellbeing of the Island is a discretionary executive function of the cCouncil under Part 1
Local Government Act 2000. Discharge of that function by the Executive is susceptible
to overview and scrutiny under s13 of the same Act.
10.
10.
10 Appendix 1 Summary of IWEP
activities for the period JManaging Director’s report July 2004 uly
– September 2003.
1.
1.
Service Level Agreement between the Council and IWEP
2.
Legal Agreements between the Council and IWEP undertaking to guarantee
payment of the rent on the properties known as Enterprise House and the
Innovation Centre, St Cross Business Park, Newport, should the IWEP be unable
to do so.
3.
Agreements
for IWEP to deliver PSA Targets 4 and 11 on behalf of the Council.
Contact Point : , F John Bentley
Lesley Williams,
Head of Corporate Principal PolicyEconomic
Development and
CommunicationsOfficer
( Ext
3797346
APPENDIX 1
IWEP ACTIVITIES –
QUARTERLY REPORT JULY-SEPTEMBER 2003
Summary
1 The
regeneration programmes are currently delivering to projected profiles for the
year 2003-04. Several Grant programmes
will end in March 2004 and work is well underway to access monies from the
single pot (SEEDA) and from other funders, for future regeneration activity
through the Area Investment Framework.
2 A very positive development in terms of
Inward Investment and the Ambassadors scheme is Island Call, setting up a call
centre in Ryde, creating up to 20 jobs in the first instance.
3 Ryde Development Trust has secured a stage 1
approval for £750,000 of Townscape Heritage Initiative funding from Heritage
Lottery Fund.
4 Quarterly returns containing key indicators,
outputs and outcomes for the Quarter 2 period (July – September) have been
completed and sent to SEEDA at the end of October.
5 The SRB V programme is due for completion at
31 March 2004 and all monies in this round are fully committed.
6 The underspend of £638, 936 in SRB VI at the
end of 2002-03 was carried forward into 2004-05 and 2005-06 and not into the
current year (2003-04) as was first envisaged.
Spend in the current year is ahead of profile due to accelerated delivery
of projects.
7 Mike Wheeler has been appointed a project
manager for all public realm work in Ryde for the next 18-24months. Ryde Development Trust has secured a stage 1
approval for £750,000 of Townscape Heritage Initiative funding from Heritage
Lottery Fund. This funding will enable
work to be carried out on shop front and building improvements in Ryde.
8 Ian Stephens is now the IW Council
representative on The Ryde Development Trust Board. The Ryde Development Trust is due to expand membership which will
create a further position for the IWC.
Rural Development
Programme
9 This programme will cease in March 2004 and
all monies are already committed. We
have just been advised that a further amount of £400,000 is to be made
available to the Island for spend this year.
This is as a result of underspend elsewhere in the Region. These funds are committed to meeting the
spend of some existing projects and further projects which have been brought
forward from a reserve list. These have
yet to be confirmed with SEEDA.
10 A considerable number of projects are coming
through this programme and a further 17 projects have been approved over the
last quarter, with funding totalling £1,371,834 and match funding of £993,978.
These include the Rural Training Bus, Photographic Courses at Dimbola Lodge,
Rural Support for the Blind Society and Chale Nursery.
11 A review of the MTI delivery has taken place
during the last quarter and it has become clear that existing staffing
arrangements were not meeting the needs of the towns. As a consequence, key IWEP staff have taken a lead in working
with the towns to manage the local strategic framework.
12 The Ventnor delivery plan has been approved
by SEEDA and projects are ready for appraisal/approval under this plan. The Sandown & Shanklin delivery plans
have been reviewed by IWEP staff, in conjunction with the Community
Partnerships and revised versions are now being put to SEEDA for approval.
13 The 19 projects have been reviewed by members
of the management and advisory group, together with the HLP staff. Discussions
are continuing as to how to make the programme sustainable and recommendations
will be shortly be made to NOF (current funders) that they should release
further funding to the programme in 2004.
Enterprise
& Investment
Cowes
Waterfront
14 In just 1 year the partnership between the
Council SEEDA and the Isle of Wight Partnership has achieved the following:
-
Commission of development framework Sept 2002
-
public consultation with an 85% approval rating
-
strong commitment from both the public & private sectors
-
supplementary planning guidance adopted by the IWC in July 2003
-
substantial cash investment
-
significant investor interest
-
and the purchase of 2 key sites, GKN North Works & Three Gates Rd
15 In addition,
we have re-branded the Project to Cowes Waterfront. This was launched during
Cowes Week and has already gained acceptance. The reasoning behind the name
change is simple; as we put more effort in to the marketing of the Project we
wanted to market a destination and not a project. We will be formalising the
marketing plan during November.
16 We have also re-branded Ellen MacArthur’s
boat Kingfisher; she is now called “Team Cowes”, and is entered in a race from
Le Havre in France to Salvador in Brazil. This will be the first time the names
of Cowes and the Isle of Wight will be marketed on an international basis.
17 Cowes Waterfront shows what can be done in
just 12 months when a strong commitment is made by all of the parties involved.
Inward Investment
18 As previously stated, our inward investment
projects do not move significantly from quarter to quarter. The number of
enquiries is increasing probably due to our work under Cowes Waterfront.
19 We anticipate that 1 of our projects will
come to fruition during November. This will create up to 20 jobs in Ryde, (see
Ambassadors section). The company recently ran a recruitment piece in the
County Press.
Innovation
Centre/Enterprise Hub
20 The Innovation Centre continues to thrive
with one new addition and one new prospect. Criterion, a company who specialise
in the testing of mobile phone networks moved into the Centre during
September. We have just started a real
marketing push on the Centre working with key influencers such as banks,
accountants and solicitors.
21 Our Hub activities include working with the
composites industry on R&D requirements and waste management requirements.
We are also hosting a composites brainstorm to discuss the future of the
industry on the Isle of Wight.
Ambassadors Scheme
22 We have now developed our initial list of IoW
Ambassadors. We have many notable names willing to help us with our efforts to
promote the Island. I anticipate publishing the names as and when our web-site
is launched.
23 We will be releasing the marketing material
during December and are currently beta testing our web-site. The Site allows us
to e-mail ambassadors on a regular basis with good news stories about the IoW.
It will also provide case studies on different facets of the island.
24 An
example of how the scheme should work is highlighted by our most recent inward
investment, Island Call. Island Call is setting up a call centre in Ryde initially
with 20 jobs. This was a direct referral from contacts we have been working
with for 18 months, Andrew Austin and Andrew Morris. Their recommendation and
promotion of the Island and the workings of the IoW Economic Partnership has
had the direct benefit of much needed jobs in Ryde. This is exactly how I
explained the new scheme would work, i.e. we would concentrate on creating jobs
and attracting new investment rather than expensive promotion and high profile
dinners.
25 Areas where I believe the Ambassadors scheme
could develop are covered in our Branding Strategy for the Isle of Wight. This
paper will be submitted to the Executive for consideration.
PSA Targets
26 PSA targets are reported to the Isle of Wight
Council under separate cover. The following are the highlights from the
reports.
27 Target
3, Job Creation.
The jobs target has
been profiled as a linear 33.3 jobs per quarter. (this may change in time to
better reflect reality). Against Q1 we achieved 27 jobs and Q2 43 jobs;
therefore we are slightly above profile. These figures do not include the new
tenant in the Innovation Centre or our new inward investment.
28 Target
11, over 50’s employment.
There have been no
jobs created against this theme as yet, however there are 2 reasons for this,
1) a re-profiling of the targets and 2) a significant bid for ESF funding via
SEEDA for in the region of £1 million to build a much larger scheme. Obviously
the work on the bid has precluded us from the initial delivery of the target.
IoW Branding & Marketing
29 For
some months now the Economic Partnership has been working with our partners to
re-evaluate the marketing of the Island. As the body responsible for marketing
the Island as an investment destination the Economic Partnership was chosen to
put forward a draft strategy as to how this could best be achieved. The paper
will explain the following:
-
why we need an IoW Brand
-
the benefits of a Brand
-
the process we need to go through
-
suggested Brand values
-
how to promote the Brand
-
the roles of the various organisations
-
how to harness private sector spend
-
potential funding sources
30 The
following organisations have given their full support
IoW Council IoW
Health Authority
IoW Tourism
Wightlink
Wight Leisure Red Funnel
IoW Chamber of Commerce Skandia
Cowes Yachting SEEDA
31 The establishment of an IoW Brand will
attract the much needed investment in to all of our business sectors, in
particular tourism and leisure. It will also give a true picture of how we wish
the Island to be viewed. All other similar destinations have either established
their brand or are doing so, it is therefore important for the Island not to be
left behind.
Financial Report
32 The financial forecasts made by the IWEP for
the first half of the financial year remain on target and the figures have been
communicated to the corporate finance department of the IW Council.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
IWEP
33 An IWEP
director has a place on the South East Regional Assembly and has attended the
Board meetings. We have facilitated
responses from the Island to a number of consultative strategy documents.
34 We have also attended scrutiny committees to
look at how SEEDA deals with Rural Affairs and have had input into the
Framework for Regional Employment and Skills Action (FRESA). We have responded to other surveys being
carried out by SEERA in their scrutiny role over the activities of SEEDA.
35 As one of the 10 Economic Partnerships in the
South East we are active members of the South East Economic Partners (SEEP)
network meetings where information and best practice are shared between the
partnerships, GOSE, SEEDA and SEERA.
36 We have worked closely with Charlotte Dixon,
SEEDA Director for Economic Inclusion and Sustainability to support policy
development for the delivery of AIF action plans across the region and to
address the Social Inclusion Agenda. We
have attended a couple of network meetings with all 10 AIF partnerships
including the meeting on 7th
October to discuss the Draft Proposal for the development of an area network
for AIF development which includes Southampton, Portsmouth, Isle of Wight and
SEEDA to share information and find models of best practice. Although each of the areas is quite
different there are common themes and models that can be shared and there
should also be opportunities to develop joint projects across the Solent area.
37 We are represented on the South East Rural
Towns Partnership (SERTP) by Joanna Richards our Rural Development Officer and
she has been involved in the development of the bid to SEEDA for the
development of the Market Towns delivery through the SERTP group.
38 We have representation on the Regional
Management Group for the Leader+ programme, which is a European Programme
managed through GOSE, RAISE through Sue Dovey, Chief Executive of the Rural
Community Council (RCC), and the SE England Rural Forum through Councillor
Harry Rees.
39 We attend Board meetings of the Hampshire
Economic Partnership as non voting members.
We have been able to look to create joint working across the marine
sector and are investigating the potential for the Solent being used as the
base for some watersports activity for the Olympic Games bid. We are very keen
to create the ‘Solent Triangle’ between Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of
Wight as an area for water-based activities. We have also had joint working on
the rural agenda through work with Sparsholt College. We have attended Board meetings of VTS Careers and have been able
to highlight issues around the need for more Adult Guidance on the Island and
provide opportunities to link regeneration activities to the careers service.
40 We have worked with Southampton SRB team to
find opportunities for joint working and as a result have made links with
Southampton Institute. The outcome has
been that the Institute are supporting the delivery teams to look at evaluation
of grant programmes as a mechanism to support the continuous improvement
process and identify issues that are ‘blocks’ to regeneration activity. We are also looking to work with the
Institute to develop better interfaces with the community and carry out
research to find effective media for delivering learning opportunities within
communities.
AIF
41 The AIF Board is being established as a
sub-group of the IWEP. It will include
representation from the following organisations yet to be nominated:
IWC Health
Private
Sector Voluntary Sector
Business
Link Wessex GOSE
LSC SEEDA
42 Draft action plan has been submitted to that
group for discussion and further work will be carried out for a submission to
SEEDA in early December 2003. The IWEP
have supported the IWC in running the themed workshops for the Local Strategic
Partnership. The priorities from the
Island Futures plan are being fed into the document.
CLLR HARRY REES
Portfolio Holder for Economic
Development, European and UK Regional Affairs
MANAGING DIRECTOR’S REPORT
July 2004
1 Introduction
Our recent activity has included the ongoing
development of the Area Investment Framework and the Company re-structure.
One highlight has been a recent trip to Buxton to
review their regeneration strategy. Buxton is an isolated town in the High Peak
of Derbyshire with a population of 20,000 and an average salary of £15,900,
roughly equivalent to Ryde. They have
received only £3.5m of SRB money however they have attracted additional funds
from other organisations such as English Heritage, Heritage Lottery Fund, LSC,
Aggregates Levy Board etc etc. their achievements are:
·
1200 student
University campus on Hospitality & Tourism (plus a 285 bed accommodation block)
·
87 bed spa hotel
with retail outlets
·
150 new jobs in
relocation of Health & Safety directorate
·
re-furbished public
gardens and associated opera house complex
·
new public realm
throughout and establishment of several international events
The Isle of Wight Economic Partnership (IWEP) and
Isle of Wight Council (IWC) hosted a visit by Pam Alexander the Chief Executive
of SEEDA on 7th-8th June. This included
a business dinner on the 7th, followed by a tour of Ryde and East
Cowes on the 8th. Pam now has a clearer
idea of where the Island sits within the region and is very keen to support our
activities.
2 AIF
A draft AIF Performance Plan has been submitted to
SEEDA, IWC and the LSP, with the LSP passing a motion of support at its last
meeting. I am awaiting comments back
from SEEDA and IWC, prior to formally submitting the Plan to SEEDA during July.
I anticipate we will receive the SEEDA
AIF monies during September.
Management of the AIF is developing with a proposed
structure being approved at the last meeting of the LSP. AIF management resides with the IWEP with
the development of a Local Investment Support Group (LISP) and an Investment
Sub Group (ISG) being crucial in the delivery of our objectives. The LISP will be made up of the Chief
Executives of the key Island and regional bodies. They will set the priorities for investment and ensure that their
own organisations will deliver in line with the main objectives. The ISG will help appraise and commission
via the IWEP the various projects that are needed to deliver our objectives. The inaugural meeting of the LISP is on 19th
July.
3 Cowes
Waterfront
The three partners (IWC, SEEDA and IWEP), have
re-confirmed that the overall Initiative covers the whole of the Medina Valley
including Newport and will be delivered by a number of projects, eg East Cowes
project, Newport Harbour project etc.
This ensures we keep a single identity for the initiative.
The East Cowes project is now subject to a
master-planning phase, beginning with a local stakeholder meeting on 21st
July. This will be by invitation only
and will open up to more public meetings during September.
Three companies are now on site with approximately
150 jobs. Several new tenants have
shown interest in the site, one being a new inward investment in the composites
sector.
The website is launched and regular e-mail updates
will be started shortly. A newsletter
(1 of 4) has been produced and will be distributed to 10,000 homes in Cowes and
East Cowes in July
Cowes Week invites will be sent out shortly, we
will again be hosting both the Chief Executive and the Chairman of SEEDA during
the week.
We anticipate hosting an Olympic Party on the
Friday to celebrate our sponsorship of Shirley Robertson's team and the four
other Islanders going to the Olympics.
Details will be issued shortly.
4 Branding
- 'Inspire'
The 'Inspire' document is now finished and awaiting
approval of the AIF Performance Plan.
Again the LSP passed a motion of support at its last meeting. I will be presenting to the current
Regeneration Sub Group on 15th July for their information.
5 Innovation
Centre/Enterprise Hub
Matrix e-Business has become our 4th graduation
from the Innovation Centre. They have
now moved to their own premises in Wootton after nearly 3 years with us. The Company started with just 1 person and
has now grown to 4 full time employees.
We will be issuing a press release shortly.
During July we are due to re-contract with SEEDA to
deliver their Enterprise Hub initiative.
I anticipate this will be completed by the end of August and will be
funded to the tune of £250,000 over 3 years
6 Enterprise
House
The Council has agreed to enter into a new 15 year
lease with MJH Developments. They
anticipate re-locating into Enterprise house during October 2004. This will provide us with an immediate
saving of approx £10,000 (£20,000/annum) on Rates, insurance etc.
Our closer working relationship with the Council is
already bearing fruit, with the Council's Head of Property Services (Tony
Flower) assisting us in re-negotiating both the rent on the Innovation Centre
and the Rateable value of the buildings.
This has lead to an immediate Rate rebate of approx £33,000 and an
annual reduction on the Innovation Centre of approx £10,000.
7 PSA
Targets
These targets are being delivered on behalf of the
Council over the next 2 years. If 100%
successful in achieving the targets we will receive a windfall of approx
£500,000 in mid 2006.
PSA target 3, (job creation) is ahead of profile.
PSA target 11, (job creation for over 50's) is
under review with the Council due to a discrepancy in the measurement criteria. We are currently at approx 75% of first
years target after 6 months operation.
8 Rural
Development Programme (RDP) & SRBV
Both programmes were completed at the end of March
2004. All targets were met, with the
RDP being evaluated over the next year.
9 SRBVI
Now in year 5 of its 6 year programme, the Ryde
initiative is now bearing fruit.
Achievement highlights are as follows:
- £750,000/annum into the Ryde economy from Ryde
Festival & carnival
- reduction in empty shops from 16% to 2%
- approx 100 jobs created in retail
- Island Build project creating new skills and 56
jobs
- Reduction in temporary and permanent exclusions
(Bishop Lovett) by 40%
- 250,000est. attending arts festival &
carnival
The next major step is the development of the Ryde
Town Improvements project. This will combine approx £2m of SRB money with £5m
of Local Transport Plan (IWC) money and £750,000 of Heritage money. A workplan has been put together under Derek
Rowell's direction and has been submitted to the relevant funding bodies.
NB - It will be key for the IWEP and the IWC to
maintain a focus on this project to ensure good management and delivery.
10 Healthy
Living Programme
The remaining grant
of £200,000 will be spent in full by the end March 2005. This will sustain the programme for a
further year.
11 Leader
+
We have contracted with the Chamber of Commerce to
deliver business support in the rural areas.
This will include local clinics on the Island where the support will be
taken out to local companies.
Unlike many areas of the Country, the Isle of Wight
has spent its allocation of money, which in turn has allowed us to attract a
further £135,000. This will be used to
support projects which have already been submitted and will enable us to revive
the Small Grants Scheme.
12 Market
Towns Initiative (MTI)
The Isle of Wight is eligible for a further
£260,000 over seven years. Current MTI
towns will not be eligible. There are
various criteria, including the need to achieve SEEDAs Tier 3 targets, with the
minimum grant being £40,000.
East Cowes, Brading and Wootton are currently
working up bids, with East Cowes being the highest priority as part of the
Cowes Waterfront area.