A major new initiative, aimed at helping the most fragile communities in the Ross and Cromarty Enterprise (RACE) area to have more control over their future, has been launched.

The European-funded Community Economic Development (CED) programme is a partnership project that seeks to target funds for sustainable development activities undertaken by communities most in need of support.

It is anticipated that over the two years (2002-03) of the CED programme, a minimum of £1.2 million will be invested in fragile communities in Ross and Cromarty. Of this, over £600,000 will come from the European-funded Highlands and Islands Special Transitional Programme, with the remainder being provided by public agencies and local communities.

The overall aim of the CED programme is to assist the fragile communities of Ross and Cromarty to promote and secure a sustainable future based on their cultural, environmental and human resources.

RACE and The Highland Council have designed and developed the programme and will  jointly fund its management as well as provide matching funding for projects.
 
The idea of enabling local people to decide how funding is spent in their own area is based on the aims of the The Highland Council to work with communities and to provide community leadership, and is one of RACE's strengthening communities objectives.

A wide range of projects and actions will be supported under the programme with the aim of:
* encouraging communities to take an active management role in their own future
* increasing enterprise and entrepreneurship in local communities, and;
* increasing the value of environmental, cultural and build heritage resources.

The areas of Ross and Cromarty which are being targeted for support are Wester Ross, Alness, Cromarty and the Fearn Peninsula.

CED funding has enabled each area to employ their own local development officer who can help groups to develop and fund projects, such as providing childcare services, community transport, cultural heritage schemes, and those which benefit the environment and tourism.

Jackie McGuinnity, head of Strengthening Communities at RACE said: "The programme has a unique implementation mechanism. We are helping local communities take over control and responsibility for decision-making. 

"Local partnerships have been formed which will appraise the projects in their own areas and decide which ones are worthy of funding.  This is the first time communities have been given this degree of control over this amount of money and there is great enthusiasm for it.

"Community organisations in the area are already coming forward with exciting and innovative proposals which seek to enhance their own communities and also create employment and other economic opportunities."

Councillor Morris Downie, Ross & Cromarty Area Chairman said: "It is a stated aim of the Council to bring managerial and political decision-making whenever practicable to local communities.  The Council has therefore been very keen to develop and support this programme with RACE and our other partners.

"As this initiative is all about communities helping themselves to address their own development needs, we have taken the opportunity not only to help communities organise and plan projects for themselves, but also the money and the financial decision making power to implement these projects.

Wester Ross will benefit from at least £100,000 of Euro-funding and Alex Gray, chairman of the Wester Ross Alliance, said: "This money is vitally important, and with outside funding, it could be trebled. The role of the Alliance is to have a local group of people decide where the money goes."