West Oxfordshire has been allocated £716,216 under the Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) to be spent over two financial years, 2023/24 and 2024/25. The REPF provides capital funding for small business projects (including farm diversification) and for new and improved community infrastructure projects.

It initially sounds like a lot of money but it really isn’t when you spread it across the district over two years.  We therefore need to make sure that we use it as effectively as possible.

The next stage in the process is that we have to submit a plan to the Government setting out how we will use the funds.  To help inform this plan, we are asking you to let us know about any project ideas Sandford St Martin Parish Council has or that you are aware of in your area. This will help us to understand the type and scale of projects currently being worked on. Project ideas must be deliverable by the end of March 2025, must be within West Oxfordshire and must comply with the REPF guidelines.

If you do have projects in the wings, please can you let us know by completing this Project Ideas Form.  Please can you do this by 5pm on Friday 28 October.

I must make it clear that you are not submitting an application at this stage but your ideas will help us to scope our plan and to design an effective application process when the scheme opens next year.