Development Fund - funding opportunity from Derbyshire Dales and High Peak Accessibility Partnership

2.31.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 9th Oct 2009

Derbyshire Dales and High Peak Accessibility Partnership - working in partnership to improve and co-ordinate access to services for residents, employers, service providers and visitors throughout the Derbyshire Dales and High Peak.

The Derbyshire Dales and High Peak Accessibility Partnership aims to develop and deliver improved local accessibility to services. The Partnership considers accessibility in the context of 'the ease with which people can access essential services'. These services are healthcare, employment opportunities, education, healthy food shopping, leisure, cultural and social facilities.

If people cannot access the key services they need at reasonable cost, in reasonable time and with reasonable ease, their quality of life suffers. Poor accessibility can be the root cause of a wide range of 'social exclusion' issues.

The headline issues are:

· for people who do not have access to a car, there can be real difficulties of access to services, particularly for the extensive rural parts of the Partnership area, with employment opportunities and healthcare being most acute.

· sometimes the problem is a lack of knowledge of existing transport provision.

· the difficulties may be compounded by any reduction or loss of local services, e.g., bus service; Post Office; village shop; healthcare facility.

The Objectives of the Partnership are:

· Objective 1 "People to Services" - Co-ordination and improvement of transport provision (e.g., bus, rail, community transport, wheels to work, car schemes, walking and cycling) to improve accessibility to health, education, training, work, leisure, recreation, culture and retail services.

· Objective 2 "Services to People" - To bring more services to local communities and to individuals at home, thereby reducing the need to travel.

The Accessibility Partnership is managed and jointly funded by Derbyshire County Council, Derbyshire Dales District Council, High Peak Borough Council and the Peak District National Park Authority. The Partnership's membership also includes various organisations, such as Primary Care Trust, Community Transport, Rural Community Council, other local authorities, town councils and community volunteer groups.

The partnership area of Derbyshire Dales and High Peak includes the coincident area of the Peak District National Park and cross boundary travel issues.

Funding is available to deliver small scale accessibility improvements that will contribute to improving access to services for the benefit of residents and/or visitors in Derbyshire Dales and High Peak.

There are two amounts of funding available:

· A revenue fund with a maximum funding limit of £1,000 per project.

· A capital fund with a maximum funding limit of £5,000 per project.

What type of projects are eligible?

Projects that assist residents and/or visitors in Derbyshire Dales and High Peak:

· in accessing key services (i.e. health, food shopping, employment, education and training, leisure and culture)

· projects that make a real difference to their communities ability to access key services. These can include small capital items (e.g. noticeboards, cycling parking etc) or revenue projects (e.g. transport provision, promotional activity, etc.)

The closing date for applications is 5pm on Friday 27 November 2009.

Please note that funding must be spent by 31 March 2010. If you would like an application form or to discuss a proposal, please contact:

David Marsden

Transport Partnership Officer

Winter Gardens

Derbyshire County Council

County Hall

Matlock

DE4 3AG

Phone: 01629 536750

E-mail: david.marsden@derbyshire.gov.uk