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| Action for Surrey Rural Towns
is a new programme designed to encourage small rural
towns to undertake a healthcheck and to assist eligible
towns in Surrey to bid into the SEEDA ( South East England
Development Agency) Small Rural Towns programme. |
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Why a new
programme - rural towns are very important. They can provide a key
focus for their surrounding hinterland
of villages and hamlets. They often are centres in which
to find work, to buy and sell goods, and to find valued specialist
services. But in recent years changes have occurred with some
towns experiencing a downturn, especially in their retail
position
as new patterns of shopping have emerged.
Recognising
the vital role played by rural towns SEEDA (South East
England Development Agency)
has introduced a new programme.
It has been developed with the South East Rural Towns Partnership
and the Countryside Agency. Central to the programme is the
Countryside Agency’s “Healthcheck” process
which has proved to be extremely successful with over 300
market towns having already completed one. This new programme
aims to provide direct financial support for eligible towns
in Surrey once they have undertaken a Healthcheck. For more
information about the healthcheck process click
here
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Ash
Bagshot
Caterham
Cranleigh
Dorking
Godalming
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Great
Bookham
Haslemere
Horley
Leathehead
Lingfield
Oxted |
Currently in Surrey
healthchecks have been undertaken by Cranleigh, Haslemere,
Farnham and Leatherhead. Steering Committees in Dorking,
Caterham, and Godalming are now actively managing programmes
with widespread consultation planned to happen very soon.
Public launches recently took place in Dorking and Godalming.
Both Cranleigh and Haslemere have now made successful bids
into the SEEDA fund.
For more information:
Visit the Town web sites
The Cranleigh Initiative www.cranleighvillage.net
The Haslemere Initiative www.haslemere.com
Farnham www.farnham.gov.uk
Leatherhead www.leatherheadtomorrow.co.uk
Visit the Healthchceck web sites:
Caterham www.caterhamabc.org.uk
Dorking www.dorkingdna.org
Godalming www.godalmingtogether.co.uk
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Haslemere
Fighting off really stiff competition, it was recently
announced at the Action for Market Towns Annual Conference
that the Haslemere Initiative has won the AMT prestigious
award for the best Market Town project in the country
2006/2007. The award is for the their Loyalty Card scheme
called " "Haslemere Rewards". The award
gives recognition to the dedication and hard work that
is going on in the region seeking to encourage others
to follow this example, so this is a tremendous achievement
for the Initiative and a real testament to all the hard
work that has gone into the project over the last year.
For more information about the scheme visit www.haslemere.com/rewards
The first food festival to take place in Haslemere has
recently ended. Undoubtedly a resounding success, this
event again brought numerous partners together and catered
for people of all ages in the Town by offering a huge
variety of activities including a chocolate day, sausage
competition, teddy bear's picnic, fair trade day, junior
master chef and lots of enjoyable meals. The 2007 event
is eagerly awaited!
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| Nick Paul, chairman of Advantage
West Midlands (left), with winners Haslemere, and Julian
Owen, chairman of
Action for Market towns (2nd from right). |
Cranleigh
After five months of intense activity the high street
regeneration works are now virtually completed and
everyone is delighted with the results. A series
of marketing activities including French and Farmers
markets, a Xmas Lights parade, new web site and brochures
have been organised to encourage local shoppers,
as well as new visitors into the village. |
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Leatherhead
Leatherhead - The Leatherhead Tomorrow Committee, as well as monitoring progress
on their flagship projects, has now been given the " green light" by
the Surrey Rural Towns Group to go ahead and develop their bid into the SEEDA
fund. This bid will focus on improving access in and around Leatherhead,
and the River Mole. So it will include improving public transport information,
new signage into the Town Centre, improving car parking information, providing
a fully accessible path along the river mole, as well as additional seating.
The stage one of the bid will be appraised in December. |
For details of other web sites which
can provide useful information about the Healthcheck process,
and the SEEDA small rural towns programme click here
For useful resources to help you carry
out your healthcheck click here |
