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09
Jun 2021
Harrogate district bids for £432,000 post-Brexit boost to economy
A bid for almost half-a-million pounds of post-Brexit cash to support the Harrogate district economy is to be submitted to a new government fund.
North Yorkshire County Council is hoping to win £432,009 from the Community Renewal Fund, which has been launched as a replacement for the loss of EU funding streams after Brexit.
The funding would be used to invest in skills, jobs and local communities.
Thirteen projects from businesses and community groups in the Harrogate district have been shortlisted for the funds, although full details have yet to be announced.
Speaking at a meeting yesterday, Cllr Andrew Lee, executive member for open to business at the county council, said the wider North Yorkshire region had bid for a total of £8.4 million, which he hoped would provide a “shot in the arm” for the county’s Brexit transition and Covid recovery.
He said:
Of the £8.4 million, Harrogate would receive the lowest sum, while Scarborough and Richmondshire would get the most with £2,981,341 and £1,904,097 respectively after being identified as priority areas by the government.
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Applications for the cash closed in May. The government will have the final say on which projects are granted funding, with an announcement expected in July or early August.
The Community Renewal Fund fund is initially being trialled as a pilot scheme before the Shared Prosperity Fund, announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in November’s spending review, is fully rolled out next year.
North Yorkshire County Council will also make a bid to the government’s Levelling Up Fund, which will provide a one-off capital investment of up to £20 million “in infrastructure that improves everyday life”.
Feasibility studies have already been carried out into several local projects, including an anaerobic digestion plant in Ryedale, an electric vehicle charge network and the renewal of Ripon Barracks.
Karl Battersby, the county council’s corporate director of business and environmental services, told Tuesday’s meeting that the authority had now shortlisted three projects, with the full details to be revealed after the bid is submitted.
He said:
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