A new Climate and Environment Grants (CEG) scheme to fund projects with an emphasis on sustainability and countering climate change for parish councils in the North Devon district is on its way.
At North Devon Council’s Full Council meeting yesterday (Wednesday 26 February), councillors agreed to the introduction of the new scheme, allocating £20,000 for grants as part of the revenue budget for 2020/21.
Grants will be available to parishes with populations of less than 1,000 (as of November 2019) towards their project for the following:
- training costs
- set up costs and/or promotion
- purchase of goods or equipment
- costs of an event(s) to raise awareness of an issue
Lead Member for Environment at North Devon Council, Councillor Netti Pearson, says:
“I’m delighted that the council is able to offer this new grant scheme to our smaller parishes. We really need to do as much as we can to support and promote activities that protect and enhance our natural environment and help to counter the effects of climate change. A good point about the CEG is that it can also be used as match-funding by parish councils to attract other funding from external sources opening up further opportunities to our parishes.”
Lead Member for Climate Change at North Devon Council, Councillor Caroline Leaver, says:
“Through the new CEG we hope to encourage and support projects and local initiatives to put into action peoples creative ideas. Ideas to support sustainability and improve the environment and tackle climate change issues such as reducing carbon and improving biodiversity. These projects could include “wilding” open spaces, wild flower meadows, more sustainable approaches to graveyards and renewables, to name just a few.”