West Norfolk Rural England Prosperity Funding Allocation
The Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk has been successful in securing £1,496,455 from the Government’s Rural England Prosperity Funding (REPF) for delivery of capital schemes from the period of April 2023 - March 2025. This fund builds on, and is complementary to, West Norfolk’s allocation under the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). It succeeds EU funding from LEADER and the Growth Programme which were part of the Rural Development Programme for England.
This funding will be used to address the extra needs and challenges facing West Norfolk’s rural areas through the provision of competitively awarded grants for rural communities and businesses and through the direct funding of active travel improvement projects.
West Norfolk Rural Business and Community Capital Grants
Grant opportunities are opening for rural communities and rural businesses to apply for capital grants to invest into lasting assets which will help to improve productivity and strengthen the rural economy and rural communities.
To access funding opportunities applicants must meet the eligibility criteria set out by the Borough Council’s delivery partners.
Only communities and businesses situated within our rural areas will be considered for this funding. This excludes King’s Lynn, and some built up industrial areas. There are two ways to determine if your project is in a eligible rural area for REPF:
- View the Borough Council’s REPF Eligible Areas map
- For a more detailed search open the link to DEFRA’s Magic Map and follow the instructions below:
- Under ‘Table of Contents’ select ‘Administrative Geographies’ then ‘Other Administrative Boundaries’ then select ‘Rural England Prosperity Fund’
- Search for the location by entering the postcode within the search bar (top left of page) or manually zoom in on a location
- Select the ‘Identify’ icon in the toolbar above the map and then click the location of your project on the map. A pop-up box will appear notifying you if the area is considered rural for the purposes of REPF.
West Norfolk Rural Communities Capital Grants
The application window for 2023-24 projects has now closed.
For more information about these grants for 2024-25 projects please see the link below.
West Norfolk Rural Communities Capital Grants
West Norfolk Rural Business Capital Grants
Now open for enquiries and applications for 2023-24 capital projects.
For more information, please see the link below.
West Norfolk Rural Business Capital Grants
The Rural England Prosperity Fund Addendum and local investment priorities
The Rural England Prosperity Fund addendum for rural West Norfolk was developed as an additional document to the West Norfolk Investment Plan to guide local delivery of Rural England Prosperity Funding and was submitted to DEFRA to secure the local funding allocation.
An analysis of evidence was undertaken to specifically understand the challenges and opportunities facing the rural areas in West Norfolk in consultation with rural stakeholders, residents, parishes and businesses.
The following intervention priority areas for rural communities were identified:
The following intervention priority areas for rural businesses were identified:
What could the local benefits of REPF investment be?
- Jobs created
- Jobs safeguarded
- Number of businesses adopting new to the firm technologies or processes
- Number of businesses with improved productivity
- Number of businesses experiencing growth
- Number of businesses increasing their turnover
- Businesses supported
- Farm businesses supported
- Farm diversification projects supported
- Micro businesses supported
- EV Charging Points
- Visitors or locals using charging points
- Community energy projects
- Improved cycleways or paths
- Increased use of cycleways or paths
- Organisations receiving grants
- Local events or activities supported
- Projects supported
- Green or blue space created or improved
- Facilities supported or created
- Increased users of facilities or amenities
- Improved engagement numbers
- Volunteering numbers as a result of the support
For further information on Rural England Prosperity Funding please follow this link: REPF Prospectus.
Other rural funding opportunities
For further information on other Government Rural Grants and Payment schemes that you may be eligible to apply for please visit: Rural grants and payments - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)