Description (brief history)
Rural Tayside is renowned for the splendour of its scenery, its historic towns, the quality of its produce and the hospitality and creativity of its people.
Rural Tayside LEADER aims to support people living or working in rural Tayside to develop a more diverse and enterprising rural economy, build stronger and more inclusive rural communities and enhance natural and cultural assets by offering grant and funding assistance.
The Rural Tayside LEADER area covers most of rural Angus with the exception of the area of the Angus Glens located in the Cairngorms National Park, the coastal strip and the settlements of Arbroath, Montrose, Moniefieth, Carnoustie and Forfar. Rural Tayside LEADER also covers most of Perth and Kinross with the exception of Perth city and Scone.
The Programme area covers 3,042 square miles, ranging from hill areas leading to the Grampian Mountains to the north, coastal areas on the Firth of Tay and North Sea to the south and east, farming areas in the middle and south, as well as a number of small towns. The population of the whole area is 149,471 of which 60% are working age.
Rural Tayside has operated as a LAG under the Leader I, II and Leader + programmes. The Rural Tayside LEADER Local Action Group (LAG) has partner representatives from a wide range of public, private and community sector organisations.The lead partner is Angus Council.
Activities
The Rural Tayside LEADER Local Action Group (LAG) has partner representatives from a wide range of public, private and community sector organisations.
The LEADER funds provided for rural Tayside are awarded by the LAG. The LAG also has responsibility for delivering the Local Development Strategy and making ongoing strategic decisions on running the LEADER Programme within Rural Tayside.
The LAG meets on a quarterly basis. The Lead Partner is Angus Council which has responsibility for employing staff, providing secretariat support and managing the budget. Minutes of the LAG meetings are available online.
Project Appraisal Advisory Group (PAAG)
The Project Appraisal Advisory Group (PAAG) is a sub group of the Local Action Group. Members of the PAAG assess and decide upon project applications for LEADER funding between £5,000 and £25,000. The PAAG also makes recommendations to the LAG on applications requesting £25,000 or more of LEADER funding. Projects requesting less than £5000 can be fast tracked for approval.
Organisation Rules
The Rural Tayside LEADER programme is based on the Local Development Strategy and Business Plan. These documents and the Area Profile underpin the rationale, operation and management of the Programme and are all available on the website.
All operating documents are also available at:
There are also extensive guidelines for LAG members, eg code of conduct, register of interests, expenses guidance etc
Aims & Objectives
The Rural Tayside LEADER programme is based on the Local Development Strategy and Business Plan. These documents and the Area Profile underpin the rationale, operation and management of the Programme.
The overall aim of the strategy is to:
"identify, develop and implement potential solutions to enable sustainable economic development in Rural Tayside".
The strategy focuses on three objectives:
To generate a more diverse and sustainable rural economy and support entrepreneurial activities To strengthen and support local communities and interest groups to develop positive actions and stronger more inclusive communities To enhance the many natural and cultural assets of the area The strategy aims to benefit in particular the following target groups:
Women Young people Migrant workers Economically inactive
The strategy is based on two themes:
Revitalising Communities to build community capacity to help local communities to identify and develop appropriate solutions which will help overcome the barriers preventing community development
Progressive Rural Economy to build a strong, diverse and competitive economy by supporting start-ups and small businesses, community/social enterprises in different sectors such as agriculture, forestry, food and drink and tourism