Eden District Council launches Inspiring Eden programme to boost local economy

Eden District Council has launched its Inspiring Eden Economic Prospectus, which looks to support local businesses and drive economic prosperity in the area.

The economic programme has been pieced together following feedback from local stakeholders and in collaboration with organisations including Eden District Council, Cumbria County Council, , Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership, the Federation of Small Businesses, the Family Business Network, the Cumbria Social Enterprise Partnership, Red Kite Innovations and several of the district’s businesses.

The new Prospectus provides an overview of the vision, direction of travel and work streams for driving economic recovery and prosperity across the district in the coming months and years.

Economic development activities will be taken forward through 14 work streams. These include: business support, employment and skills, connectivity, the A66 Northern Trans-Pennine project, inward investment, sites and premises, and town centre plans. The work streams also focus on a range of sectors including the visitor economy, knowledge-based industries, rural economy and creative industries.

A critical cross-cutting theme in Inspiring Eden is decarbonisation, which seeks to both promote green tech-based businesses, as well as embedding decarbonisation principles across the whole economy.

To accelerate delivery of the programme, Eden District Council is investing £780,000 over the next 12 months.

Cllr Mary Robinson, Portfolio for Economies and Enterprise and Deputy Leader of Eden District Council, said:

“Inspiring Eden reflects our ambition to help local people and businesses through some of the most difficult times in living memory. I am very keen we support the local land based industries - in particular the farming and rural communities - which are part of the district’s DNA and that are facing significant challenges over the coming months and years.

“I am also very keen that we grasp the opportunities around decarbonisation and that this becomes the writing in the rock in everything we do.”

• You can view the Inspiring Eden prospectus online.

For more information on Inspiring Eden, contact the Council’s Economic Development team at [email protected]