Andrew George Welcomes Multi-Million Pound Support for Coastal Communities

A new fund to support the economic development of coastal communities has been welcomed by the MP for West Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Constituency, Andrew George.

Last week the Treasury announced the creation of the Coastal Communities Fund. The fund will provide multi-million pound support to the UK’s coastal communities, including those in West Cornwall. It will provide money for organisations and charities engaging in a wide range of projects including economic development for businesses, environmental schemes, education projects, and health programmes.

The money available each year will be equivalent to 50% of the revenue generated in the previous year by the marine activates of the Crown Estate. The fund is set to be open for bids in April 2012 and the Government is currently in discussion with the Big Fund (part of the Big Lottery Fund) to discuss the best way to manage the bid process.

To ensure that coastal communities in West Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly secure a fair portion of the national funding pot Mr George is writing to those local organisations, charities and social enterprises that could benefit. He is encouraging these groups to begin thinking about potential bids ahead of the start of the fund.

Mr George said:

“I’m keen to make sure that our economy benefits from this opportunity. Local projects deserve support and this may just be the pump-priming some of them need. Let’s not let Cornwall and Scilly miss out, like we have done so far with the Regional Growth Fund.”