Carmarthenshire secures £32m for projects

Carmarthenshire County Council has brought more than £32 million into the county for projects in the last year.
A progress report to the council’s executive board by the Head of European Policy and External Funding, Neville Davies, revealed that £32.6million external grant funding was attracted for 36 Carmarthenshire projects between January 2010 and January this year.
It is part of a total £86.4million in external grant funding approved between April 2008 and January 2011.
The projects approved grant funding include £7.5m EU Convergence and WAG Targeted Match Funding for the Llanelli Town Regeneration Project; £8.9m EU Convergence funding for the South West Wales Local Investment Fund to help small to medium enterprises and business start-ups; and just over £10m Convergence funding for the South West Wales Property Development Fund to provide grant aid to developers in strategic employment locations.
A number of these projects have been developed collaboratively with other local authorities, education establishments and community sectors organisations in South West Wales with Carmarthenshire taking the lead role.
The report said: “The amount of external funding awarded to the authority is quite significant. We are finally reaping the benefits of collaborative working over the last four years with a large number of significant projects having already been approved with others in the pipeline. This funding will have a significant impact on our businesses and communities.”
Executive board member for regeneration and leisure, Cllr Clive Scourfield, said: “I’d like to praise the officers for their efforts. It’s obvious, when you look at the amount they have been able to access, that we are extremely successful in drawing down funding for use in our communities. If it wasn’t for the fact that we are so successful in drawing down this grant funding, these projects would not be able to happen.
“The role out of the Rural Development Plan across rural communities in Carmarthenshire over the next few years will hopefully create job opportunities and help to sustain our farming communities. We will be targeting farmers who will want to diversify their businesses as well as encouraging visitors to spend in the county.”
Council leader Cllr Meryl Gravell said: “£86million has been given out in the last three years to communities – for their benefit. The hard work of our officers has brought in a lot of grant money which we are able to put to good use for our communities.”

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