British Horse Society (BHS) officials in the Yorkshire region are keen to draw to the attention of farmers and landowners the current funding opportunities offered by LEADER.
Defra has awarded the Yorkshire Dales LEADER area £2.23 million to support local priorities, amongst which boosting rural tourism and farm diversification are high on the agenda. In an early round of funding, farms and other businesses are invited to apply for grants of up to £35,000 which the British Horse Society have suggested might be used to open up more routes to enable riders to get off the roads.
As well as providing pleasanter riding opportunities, allowing access to new routes will help to relieve pressure on already congested rural roads.
A campaign by the British Horse Society, ‘Dead Slow’, highlights that in the five years since the launch of its horse accidents website, over 2,000* reports of road incidents involving horses have been reported to the charity. Of these, 36 caused rider deaths, and 181 resulted in a horse dying from their injuries or being put to sleep.
Rima Berry who assists applicants through the grant process at LEADER welcomes the support of the British Horse Society in highlighting grant funding and acknowledges the synergy of their aims.
The Yorkshire Dales LEADER funding area extends beyond the boundaries of the National Park, so the area of geographical eligibility is quite extensive. Farmers and other landowners throughout the region can potentially access funding to make existing tracks and footpaths rider-friendly by replacing stiles with gates and signposting new routes. These could be developed further to provide new sources of income and sustainable job opportunities; the key objectives of LEADER funding.
Jane Ellison-Bates is a LEADER Executive Board Member and British Horse Society committee member covering the Yorkshire Dales area, as well as being a horse rider herself. She observes “Some farmers can be instinctively resistant to horses, but in reality riders are not seeking to tear around chewing up their fields at a flat gallop, but simply wish to get from A to B in a pleasant environment away from traffic. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that responsible riders are willing to pay good money to ride routes off-road, as evidenced by the commercial success of farmer David Coates highly popular diversification venture Craven Country Ride at Coniston Cold. It always surprises me that there are not more landowners like David realising the commercial potential presented by horse riders. The current LEADER funding is a golden opportunity to get started.”
Larger landowning corporations such as The Forestry Commission and Yorkshire Water are already recognising the value in providing riding tracks at locations such as Swinsty and Scar House Reservoirs.
The BHS encourages farmers to consider creating new circular routes, developing footpaths or currently private tracks to link existing public bridleways and rights of way to make viable routes for riders off-road. Toll routes, creating areas for visiting riders to park horseboxes and trailers and offering refreshment facilities are potentially income-generating opportunities that can be created with relatively low investment.
Landowners can dedicate new rights of way across their land through a creation agreement. Once a route has been added to the definitive map, the responsibility for the upkeep of its surface is usually taken over by North Yorkshire County Council.
LEADER funding is available in several different categories, so an early conversation with Rima Berry is recommended for farm business owners to determine the best approach to a funding bid for diversification. Outline applications for projects of this nature need to be in by 25th July with funds becoming available for approved projects at the end of 2016.
Rima Berry can be contacted on 015242 51002 or by email on rima.berry@ydmt.org
Ends
Notes to editors:-
High-res images available on request.
* statistics date from November 2010 to 1 March 2016. 2,070 incidents reported in five years.
http://www.yorkshiredalesleader.co.uk/
Useful information:
http://www.northyorks.gov.uk/article/24018/Rights-of-way—definitive-map-and-statements
Media contact:-
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