A FUNDING package to help Hatherleigh and surrounding villages get back on their feet following the foot and mouth crisis has been agreed by the South West Regional Development Agency and West Devon Borough Council.
The £50,000 package will be used to fund a development worker to work with the local community to draw up economic recovery plans and expand and enhance the services offered by the Farm Crisis Network.
The cash help for Hatherleigh is the first stage of the South West RDA's plans to spend its recently announced £3-million regional foot and mouth emergency fund.
Chairman of the Hatherleigh Area Project Management Group Michael Winter, who is a professor of rural economy at Cheltenham and Gloucester College and a resident of Hatherleigh, said this was an opportunity to build and rejuvenate the economy.
'I hope we will be able to appoint a development worker who can help farmers and business people draw down further funds from Central Government and Europe for local projects,' he said.
'Of equal importance is the opportunity this gives us for innovative thinking and a pooling of ideas and skills within the community.'
The community will learn more details of the project and be invited to come forward with ideas for economic regeneration at a public meeting on May 16. A venue and time have yet to be fixed.
West Devon Borough Council, which has provided match funding for the initiative, has also been instrumental in organising the Hatherleigh Advice Centre. Here people can get up-to-date information on the foot and mouth crisis plus advice and support on issues such as benefits and counselling.
Tim Beavon from the borough council said the project sat well with the other work the authority was involved in to find out how best to help local communities.
'The project is not just about Hatherleigh — there should be benefits for the surrounding area and we will be working to run similar projects elsewhere in the borough,' he said.
Mayor of Hatherleigh Denis Bater, who is also a member of the management group, said the town had been suffering before this crisis, and the devastating effects of foot and mouth had hit Hatherleigh really hard.
'I am now looking forward to finding a way out of this mess and giving our businesses, farmers and residents a way forward with the setting up of a group to regenerate the local area,' he said.