Biomass grants strengthen North East rural businesses

The cash, which marks the first funding round of a £1.2 million project to help develop rural businesses in the North East, has gone to five businesses working in a range of activities to do with the supply of wood for low-carbon heat and power markets.

Beneficiaries of the first round of funding include two forestry contractors; a short rotation coppice business, which needed investment for research and development into a new planting system; a timber haulage business, which used its grant to upgrade a haulage wagon, and the Healey Estate, which is using wood from its estate to meet local biomass demand.

Richard Makepeace, who co-manages forests on the Chipchase and Minsteracres estates,  used his grant to buy equipment including a thinning harvester and firewood processor that will help him double his firewood production within three years.

“I’m delighted that my bid was successful,” said Makepeace. “Our new firewood processor makes the whole process so much quicker and easier – what would’ve taken three of us a full day using manual chopping techniques can now be done by one of us in just a few hours, so it will make a huge difference to the business.

“The firewood market is strong and we’re now in a better position to be able to meet demand.”
 
The project is funded through the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), a European Union and Defra investment initiative to develop sustainable rural economies across England. It is being managed in the North East by regional development agency One North East, Natural England and the Forestry Commission.

In the North East, the programme is targeting investment specifically at facilities and systems for harvesting, processing, storage and distribution of biomass products and work on forestry, forestry and timber co-products and short rotation coppice. It is also investing in training for staff and ways to help more businesses meet industry quality standards.

A recent report into the biomass market in the North East suggested the sector, which is still small, had the potential to be contributing more than £75 million a year to the regional economy by 2015.

Rural businesses wanting to expand into biomass, however, tend to be small or micro enterprises, with limited resources to invest in the training and equipment needed.

The North East biomass project aims to address these weaknesses in the market and decisions are currently being made on a second round of applications the deadline for which is February 2009.

Project officer Jennifer Hewitson of Northwoods, which is running the funding programme on behalf of Rural Development Initiatives Ltd, said the range of applications in the first round of funding was evidence of the growth in the biomass sector in the North East.

“Improving supply chains will allow the industry to pick up momentum, making sure that current and future demand for biomass products can be met by local businesses,” she said. “I very much look forward to working with more businesses in the future funding rounds.”