Loddon and Eversley Heritage Area - Rural Funding

News

Increase in Capacity to Produce Award-winning Cheese

A quality cheese producer assisted in refurbishment and purchasing more equipment

Hampshire Cheeses is a local business based in Herriard near Basingstoke and produces artisan cheese. It was set up in 2003, and in 2006 commenced production of Tunworth cheese. This is an unpasteurised mould-ripened soft cow’s cheese and has won several awards. The dairy was only able to produce around 230 cheeses per day and demand had far outstripped this, so the need to move to larger premises was necessary in order to meet the expansion requirements of the business. Stacey Hedges of Hampshire Cheeses explained: “We still produce each cheese by hand, and they are matured slowly in order to allow the flavour to develop. We also hope to develop a new cheese over the next few years using the same delicious unpasteurised milk and traditional methods of maturing.” Tunworth, a creamy brie-like cheese, was awarded Supreme Champion at the 2006 British Cheese Awards, beating over 840 other entries, and also won a gold at the World Cheese Awards in 2007.

Total grants awarded for this project were £97,000 and contributed to the cost of refurbishment of new premises to create a new larger dairy and the purchase of new equipment and refrigeration. These new, larger premises will enable production to increase to 750 Tunworth cheeses a day, will enable the employment of more staff and increase supply to local outlet businesses. It will also benefit the local farm where the milk comes from and provide a learning facility for school children and colleges and an opportunity for work placement to support career development. Although this was not a normal LEADER grant, the Loddon and Eversley team were heavily involved in the development of the application.

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Firewood Processing Equipment for Hampshire Estate

An estate will gain equipment to process firewood for sale locally

The Greywell Hill Estate has been awarded £6,425 as a 40% contribution towards the purchase of a new pto driven firewood processor, log splitter and 4 tonne trailer. This equipment will not only provide a safer way to cut and split logs (the processor comes with a hydraulic log lifter), it will also provide the means to transport it to local homes (within 5 miles of the estate).

The woodlands are managed under the England Woodland Grant Scheme (administered by the Forestry Commission) for their biodiversity value. Much of the woodland is designated a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) The woods are under a rotational coppice cycle as well as other forms of silvicultural management. This project aims to make economical use of the arisings from the management of the woodland. Wood that cannot be sold as timber or usable coppice material can be sold as firewood, which is a low carbon source of energy to heat homes.

Local students often come to work on the estate and the project will provide more work and learning opportunties for those wishing to discover more about working in forestry management. It provides an income to the estate and a environmentally sustainable way to use a by-product from woodland management and a low carbon fuel source for local people, meaning low fuel miles.

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Firewood and Coppice Merchant

Local woodland business wins first cut of £1.8 million grant funding (2 June 2009)

A firewood and coppice merchant based at Crondall near Farnham is the first business to win funding from Loddon and Eversley LEADER Local Action Group (LAG).

A grant of more than £4000 made to firewood and coppice merchant Mark Howard has enabled him to buy a new machine to process firewood. Production of firewood accounts for up to 65% of his business. This grant has resulted from the opportunity for businesses, organisations and community groups in the rural parts of Rushmoor, Hart and Basingstoke and Deane to apply for a share of £1.8 million grant funding from Loddon & Eversley LEADER Local Action Group.

Upon receiving his grant, Mark Howard said: “The funding has certainly helped my business, it has allowed me to up date my firewood processing machinery and invest in a larger tipping trailer, so effectively I can now deliver more orders more quickly and consistently throughout the year. The funding application process was relatively simple as I was helped a great deal by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust who provide full support to people applying to the scheme.”

Mark explained the need to update his machinery: “The increased demand for wood fuel has developed because consumers are looking for a green or carbon neutral alternative to fossil fuels, or to supplement their heating bills by installing log burners. As a result our firewood business has grown by almost 100%. We promote our business as ‘local wood for local people’, as all our timber is sourced from local estates either from managed forestry or coppiced woodland”.

Chairman of Loddon and Eversley LEADER Local Action Group, Robert Benford enthused: “Mark Howard’s business typifies the target audience LEADER is aiming at for granting funding, and is just the sort of micro-business that LEADER is designed to assist”.

Mark is also a hazel hurdle maker and coppice product supplier. His business supplies thousands of pea sticks to London which are used primarily to support herbaceous plants, as well as hurdles, pea sticks and bean rods. He also offers woodland and countryside conservation services, including hedge laying, coppicing and tree and hedge planting. Mark summed up: “Supplying hurdles from coppiced woodland and converting locally grown timber into woodfuel means every customer is helping to conserve Hampshire’s ancient woodland heritage, which is a prime motivator behind our business!”

The new Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) opened for business on the 18th January 2008 and will run to 2013; it replaces the England Rural Development Programme (ERDP). The RDPE is jointly funded by the EU, through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, and the UK Government.