Making a difference to The Broads
Think green. That is the challenge raised by a government pot of cash to inspire people to give The Broads a sustainable future.
Over the last five years the Broads Authority has allocated nearly £1 million to 117 projects which will play their part in making The Broads a greener place.
Each year, since 2002, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has given £200,000 to each of the UK’s national parks to inspire local organisations, businesses and communities to come up with bright ideas which will benefit the area.
In The Broads about a third of the money has helped promote sustainable tourism, with green business, boating, biking and canoeing projects. A third has provided education programmes to encourage sustainable thinking in schools, and the remainder has supported projects to help disadvantaged people and environmental and economic sustainability.
The projects are wide-ranging but have several things in common. They are all innovative, sustainable, and improve the life of people living in and working in the area. The Broads Authority is keen to help young people and support projects which do not qualify for other public funding. No project is too large or too small. A small projects fund exists to provide grants of under £1000.
The SDF’s award-winning flagship project is the rejuvenation of The Broads reed and sedge cutting industry. The industry was dying out when, in 2002, the Broads Authority encouraged the surviving reed and sedge cutters to form the Broads Reed and Sedge Cutters Association and apply for SDF funding. Since then the fund has pumped £67,400 into the industry which was matched by £57,000 from the Broads and Rivers EU LEADER+ programme in 2003.
The money has been spent on new machinery which is rented to members. The accumulated payments are then used to fund replacement machinery. It has also contributed to the association’s website and storage facilities. The project has resulted in new reed cutters taking up the trade and securing the future of The Broads landscape. The association has helped to train five new young reed and sedge cutters as part of a Heritage Lottery funded bursary scheme and more funding has provided machinery to set up two of these recruits in business. The project won a Royal Town Planning Institute award in 2006 and a Europa Nostra award in 2007.
The fund is supporting sustainable tourism in the Broads in a big way. It has given £13,000 towards a £23,000 Greening the Park project to pay for the auditing and assessment of environmentally friendly criteria at 15 businesses in The Broads by Green Business UK. As a result nine businesses were the first in The Broads to win Green Tourism Business Scheme awards in gold, silver and bronze. The project has also produced the first National Park Green Guidance handbook and staged two seminars to encourage more Broads businesses to go green.
The SDF is encouraging eco-friendly boating by part-financing a variety of innovative projects. Three years ago six boatyards began trialling bio-diesel produced from chip fat oil on 25 boats for an average of two years. They proved that the biodegradable fuel was a perfectly good alternative to petroleum diesel for marine engines with environmental benefits in the event of any spillages. However, even with the SDF subsidy, the fuel remains more expensive than red diesel and would need to drop in price to become a viable fuel of the future.
The SDF has part funded the Broads Society’s Go Electric! campaign which gave 25% grants for eight private boat engine conversions from diesel to electric. Importantly, it subsidises the only Green Boat Show in the UK, the third of which will be held on Salhouse Broad on 21 September.
Boating experiments it has funded include research to develop a Broads eco-boat for the future by Norfolk and Suffolk Boatbuilders Association. Woods Dyke Boatyard at Horning has trialled solar panels to supply electricity for domestic appliances on motor boats and hydrogen fuel cells as an automatic battery charging facility on boats. It has also part-funded an innovative boatyard development at Galleon Boat Storage at Beccles where boats are stored out of the water or in ‘air’ berths and anti-fouling paint discouraged. The SDF funding is specifically for the first Wash Tek decontamination unit in Europe that removes heavy metals and toxins from hull wash water.
The SDF panel is keen to help disadvantaged people and young people and has given a total of £16,000 in two separate grants to Waveney Sailability, a Rotary supported sailing club on Oulton Broad which teaches people with disabilities to sail and provides affordable opportunities for them to continue the hobby. The money has bought two specially designed Access dinghies for the club, provided RYA training for club instructors, life-jackets and waterproofs, and helped promote the scheme with a website and leaflets.
The SDF has also provided a £15,200 grant to buy five new Wayfarer dinghies for the Norfolk Schools Sailing Association to introduce schoolchildren to sailing. The boats will replace 20 year old boats which are beyond economic repair.
It has also given nearly £8,500 to Beccles Rowing Club to buy a double scull and a coxed quadruple sculling boat to introduce young people to rowing and promote the sport as a healthy and sustainable form of recreation.
Aid has also been given for a 5 kw wind turbine at Ellingham School near Bungay to supply most of the school’s electricity and an £8,000 grant to solar heat a swimming pool at Reedham school. A similar amount has been offered for a pilot project at the Hewett School to landscape the grounds for biodiversity including allotments, an amphitheatre and a wildlife garden. If successful the project will rolled out in Broads secondary schools.
The SDF is currently financing a scoping study for a carbon audit of the Broads carried out by CRed at the University of East Anglia. The study will provide a picture of where carbon emissions come from and how much is produced, so the Broads Authority can draw up a carbon reduction plan to comply with government targets. The Sustainable Development Fund will be invaluable in funding solutions to reduce visitors’ carbon footprints. It is just waiting for bright ideas to do it.
A leaflet “Bright ideas wanted” explains who and what qualifies for Sustainable Development Fund cash. It is available from the Broads Authority office at 18 Colegate, Norwich and at information centres.
If you have an idea that might qualify for funding contact Nigel Dark, on 01379 668750 or email nigel.dark@tiscali.co.uk. Guidance notes are also available.
09/06/2008
