2.6.1 Identification of relevant nationally and regionally controlled RDR measures
- The prioritisation of activities set out in 2.5.3 above does not take direct account of the scope of the Measures available under the Rural Development Regulation, through which the activities can be delivered and, thereby, the regional goals and objectives addressed.
- Although, in principle, the vast majority of the activities could be addressed through the available Measures, there is a great deal of variation in terms of the closeness of fit with the scope of the Rural Development Regulation, such that some are much more appropriately pursued through the Rural Development Regulation than others.
- To examine this relationship a further matrix mapping exercise was undertaken by the Regional Drafting Group, and endorsed by the Regional Partnership on 9/12/99, which measures how closely the activities generated at the regional level fit with the full range of measures available under the Rural Development Regulation.
- This exercise produced a ranking of regional activities, in terms of how closely these fit the available Measures, as well as a ranking of available Measures in terms of how closely these meet Regional needs. The following is the ranking of regional activities:
| 1. Support for environmental land management 2. Processing of primary rural commodities into products, and their marketing and distribution 3. Establishment and management of forestry and woodlands 4. Rural tourism and recreation initiatives 5. Establishment of new enterprises and land uses 6. Introduction, development, growing and use of new and novel crops for food, energy and industrial uses 7. Provision and promotion of training to enhance skills and competencies 8. Provision of integrated environmental and business advice to sustain regional diversity and distinctiveness 9. Investment to improve resource management in sensitive water catchment areas and river floodplains 10. Demonstration projects and pilot initiatives to inform and disseminate good practice in integrated rural development 11. Feasibility studies to explore and develop new approaches to integrated rural development 12. Development of rural services and improved take-up and quality of existing services (transport, shops, ICT) |
- To underpin this mapping exercise and link it to how the available Measures meet regional needs, it is necessary to describe the attributes of the regional activities:
| Assessing Activities | Activities for South Western Region | Implications in terms of identifying priority Measures |
|---|---|---|
| Strategic regional importance and close relationship with available Measures |  Support for environmental land managementProcessing of primary agricultural commodities into products and their marketing and distributionEstablishment and management of forestry and woodlands Rural tourism initiatives Establishment of new enterprises and land uses (i.e. farm diversification) |
Relevant Measures must be a priority for the region |
| Less strategically significant but available Measures would deliver them very effectively | Introduction, development, growing and use of new and novel cropsProvision and promotion of training to enhance skills and competencies |
Relevant Measures should probably be a priority for the region on the grounds that impact is likely to be high and the activity scores highly within the Rural Development Regulation as a whole |
| Strategic regional importance but relationship with available Measures is not as strong | Provision of integrated advice to support rural communities and sustain regional diversity and distinctivenessInvestment to improve resource management in sensitive water catchment areas and river floodplainsDemonstration projects and pilot initiatives to inform and disseminate good practice in integrated rural developmentFeasibility studies to explore and develop new approaches to integrated rural developmentDevelopment of rural services and improved take up and quality of existing services |
Relevant Measures should be a priority for the region, but the Regional Partnership recognises that other mechanisms will be needed to make these work effectively for the region |
- This categorisation exercise acts as a filter on regionally strategically important activities, in terms of identifying what is realistically achievable through the Rural Development Regulation. This approach results in four activities (integrated advice; demonstration projects; rural services) assuming a secondary importance in terms of Rural Development Regulation priorities at the national level. They remain strategically important for the region, but alternative funding mechanisms would be more appropriate.
- The Table below summarises all three rankings for the regional activities: the first in terms of the extent to which all objectives are met; the second in terms of how the activities' sectoral objectives are met; and the third the overall level of affinity with the available Measures:
| Activities identified by the region | Regional priority in terms of meeting regional objectives for integrated rural development | Regional Priority in terms of meeting sectoral objectives (economic, environmental and social) | Rank of activity in terms of "closeness of fit" with available Measures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Provision of integrated environmental and business advice to sustain regional diversity and distinctiveness | 1 | - | 8 |
| Demonstration projects and pilot initiatives to inform and disseminate good practice in integrated rural development | 2 | - | 10 |
| Feasibility studies to explore and develop new approaches to integrated rural development | 3 | - | 11 |
| Rural tourism and recreation initiatives | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Development of rural services and improved take-up and quality of existing services (transport, shops, ICT) | 5 | 3 | 12 |
| Establishment and management of forestry and woodlands | 6 | 5 | 3 |
| Support for environmental land management | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| Provision and promotion of training to enhance skills and competencies | 8 | 7 | 7 |
| Establishment of new enterprises and land uses | 9 | 8 | 5 |
| Investment to improve resource management in sensitive water catchment areas and river floodplains | 10 | 2 | 9 |
| Processing of primary rural commodities into products, and their marketing and distribution | 11 | 6 | 2 |
| Introduction, development, growing and use of new and novel crops for food, energy and industrial uses | 12 | 9 | 6 |
- The mapping of regionally-set general activities against all of the measures to be pursued under the Rural Development Regulation, both nationally and regionally targeted, revealed a ranking of measures.
- The results of the regional prioritisation exercise (described at 2.5.1 above) were used to inform the output from this mapping matrix, and revealed the measures that are most relevant in delivering these activities, as set out in Table 2.23 below.
- Ranking has been given a high/medium/low weighting based on the following banding of cumulative scores:
- 15+ = High
- 10-15 = Medium
- <10 = Low
Weighted Rank of Measures - in terms of implementing the Rural Development Plan in the South Western Region
| Rank | Description of Measure | Details | Examples of specific activities supported | Implications |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1= | Agri-Environment: Organic Farming Scheme | Articles 21-24; accompanying | organic conversion |
High priority for the South West of England |
| 1= | Less Favoured Areas Compensatory Allowances: HLCAs; Hill Farming Allowance Scheme | Article 13-21; accompanying | upland grazing systems |
High priority for the South West of England |
| 1= | Afforestation of agricultural land and other forest/woodland management: WGS, FWPS, Energy Crops Scheme | Articles 29-31; accompanying | enhance woodland features |
High priority for the South West of England |
| 4= | Agri-Environment: ESAs | Article 21-24; accompanying | environmental land management |
High priority: Issue for the National Planning Group |
| 4= | Agri-Environment: Countryside Stewardship | Article 21-24; accompanying | environmental land management |
High priority: Issue for the National Planning Group |
| 4= | Afforestation of non-agricultural land and Other forestry, including Short Rotation Coppice | Article 4, 30-31 ; non-accompanying | novel crops |
High priority: Issue for the National Planning Group |
| 4= | Diversification of agricultural activities and activities close to agriculture to provide multiple activities or alternative incomes | Article 33; non-accompanying | financial support for diversification |
High priority for the South West of England |
| 8 | Marketing and processing grants | Article 25-28; non-accompanying | processing of primary agricultural products |
High priority for the South West of England |
| 9= | Marketing of quality agricultural/forestry products | Article 33; non- accompanying | marketing and supply chains |
High priority for the South West of England |
| 9= | Protection of the environment in connection with agriculture, forestry and landscape conservation and animal welfare | Article 33; non- accompanying | soil erosion measures |
High priority for the South West of England |
| 11= | Encouragement for tourist and craft activities | Article 33; non-accompanying | stimulating tourism |
High priority for the South West of England |
| 11= | Training | Article 9; non-accompanying | enhancing skills |
High priority for the South West of England |
| 13 | Agriculture water resources management | Article 33; non-accompanying | investment in farm water resources |
Medium priority for the South West of England |
| 14 | Renovation and development of villages and protection and conservation of the rural heritage | Article 33; non- accompanying | local IT information points |
Medium priority for the South West of England |
| 15 | Investment in agricultural holdings (energy crops) | Article 4; non-accompanying | financial support for energy crops |
High Priority for Miscanthus establishment as an energy crop |
| 16= | Development and improvement of infrastructure connected with the development of agriculture and forestry | Article 33; non-accompanying | rural service infrastructure |
Medium priority for the South West of England |
| 16= | Financial engineering | Article 33; non- accompanying | Venture capital business plans |
Medium priority for the South West of England |
| 18 | Farm relief services | Article 33; non- accompanying | Skills pools |
Low priority for the South West of England |
| 19 | Restoring agricultural production potential damaged by natural disasters | Article 33; non- accompanying | Flood damage recovery |
Low priority for the South West of England |
| 20= | Basic services for the rural economy and population | Article 33; non- accompanying | Community support networks |
Low priority for the South West of England under the RDR but High Priority for the Region through other funding mechanisms |
| 20= | Reparcelling | Article 33; non- accompanying | Conservation site assembly |
Very low priority for the South West of England |
| 22 | Land improvement | Article 33; non- accompanying | Field water supply |
Very low priority for the South West of England |
- Demonstration projects, feasibility studies and provision of advice are cross-cutting regional activities which can apply across the different measures. Regionally, capacity to undertake these activities is most likely to occur within Article 33, in order to ensure that projects which can demonstrate how integrated rural development can be achieved.
- The Weighted Rank of Measures reflects the present expression of regional priorities within the nationally-defined scope of the RDR measures. Some regional activities, particularly provision of rural services, have a high priority for the Region but figure as low priority measures because they lack closeness of fit to the scope of RDR measures as nationally defined. Delivery of these activities may also be pursued through other appropriate mechanisms at the regional level.
Page last modified:
17 August, 2005
Page published: 1 October, 2000