The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has joined National Park rangers this week on a tour of bridges and footpaths that have been repaired as part of ‘Routes to Resilience’, a £3m flood recovery project.
Announced in November, the £3m pot from the RPA has enabled rangers to begin an 18-month programme to reinstate bridges, repair and improve paths, and replace stiles and gates to improve the access for visitors in rural areas, which have previously been devastated by past storms.
Andy Tordoff, Head of Northern Region for the RPA, also met with businesses from the Lake District National Park Partnership to discuss the future of European funding opportunities for the Lake District.
Tourism infrastructure, business development and food processing are all areas that could benefit from current European funding opportunities.
'Excellent start'
The Partnership is also keen to begin initial discussions about the potential impact ahead of the UK departing the EU.
"We've made an excellent start on our flood recovery project, so it was fantastic to be able to show the RPA our appreciation of the £3million and share some of progress made so far," said Steve Ratcliffe, Director of Sustainable Development at the Lake District National Park.
"We are focused on not just repairing the vital rights of way network affected by flooding, but to also make it more resilient for the benefit of our important rural and visitor economy.
"However, £3million wasn’t the total repair bill for the Park following Storm Desmond.
"So we are continuing to explore funding options to cover the shortfall; this is currently estimated at a further £2m for the rights of way network and £5m for the Keswick to Threlkeld Railway Path reconnection."
