The Rural Services & Thematics Partnership (RSTP) was established by Grwp Cefn Gwlad (a sub-group of the local Objective 1 Partnership), and is comprised of a number of locally based community development agencies, voluntary groups and government agencies. An analysis of the needs and opportunities within rural Carmarthenshire, and the outcome of this work was the production of a framework and action plan against which projects would be assessed. The framework named the “Sustainable Village Model” provides support to a number of strategic “model” projects located within the rural areas (i.e. non-priority 3) of the County that will contribute to the economic and social development of the area. The framework had 5 key themes, namely: rural services; the built environment; rural thematics; employment, and the natural environment. This grant programme addressed the 2 key themes of Rural Services and Rural Thematics. A One Stop Shop Approach was used, with 4 Different Base Locations, 4 Development Officers with complementing portfolios, and numerous auxiliary staff for monitoring and claim purposes.
Total RSTP cost for Measure 4 was£1,219,706 and £1,249,706 for Measure 6,
The scheme commenced in January 2003, and ran until April 2005. Grants were available for a variety of schemes for the development of innovative projects under the following themes under Measures 4 and 6:
Theme 1: Rural Services Audits
Theme 2: Rural Intranet Services
Theme 3: Information Loci
Theme 4: Community Distinctiveness
Theme 5: Heritage & Cultural Audits
Theme 6: Cultural & Tourism Activities
Theme 7: Craft & Manufacturing
Theme 8. Rural Transport;
Theme 9. Support for Community Post Offices and shops;
Theme 10. Local care delivery via Community enterprise;
Theme 11. Themed Events;
Theme 12. Marketing initiatives;
Theme 13. Cultural and tourism actions;
Theme 14. Youth projects.
The aim was to help regenerate communities, create and safeguard jobs, boost tourism and the local economy, and to support the arts and local businesses, all with the over-arching aim of contributing to the economic and social development of the County. This was done with a partnership approach made up of representatives from: Carmarthenshire County Council, the Welsh Development Agency, the Welsh Assembly Government, Carmarthenshire Tourist Association, Carmarthenshire Association of Voluntary Services, Antur Cwm Taf / Tywi and Antur Teifi.
Final Programme Outputs between Measures 4 and 6 were:
48 Community led projects aimed at enhancing basic services; 29 Community led projects aimed at renovating and developing villages; 16 Community led projects encouraging the tourism and craft industries; 11 Jobs created and 188 Jobs safeguarded; 15 Local facilities improved; 17 Marketing & promotion events supported, and 9 Youth projects supported.
For a full list of projects supported under the RSTP Programme by area, please use the links to the top left of this page.