North East Launches Coastal and Rural Taskforce

The inaugural meeting of the North East Coastal and Rural Taskforce took place recently at the Catalyst, Newcastle, supported by the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise and Newcastle University.

The Coast and Rural Taskforce is a key commitment in the North East Deeper Devolution Deal. Recognising the needs of, and opportunities in, rural and coastal communities, North East Combined Authority and the Government are committed to joint, place-based, and inclusive working to create policy which improves the region’s natural environment and levels up the North East’s rural and coastal places. As part of this, the Combined Authority established a North East Coastal and Rural Taskforce with representatives from local and national Government. This will drive forward policy to help address the unique challenges facing coastal and rural communities in the North East.

Speaking about the launch of the Taskforce Cllr Glen Sanderson, Cabinet Member for Environment, Coast and Rural and Leader of Northumberland County Council said:

“I’m delighted to launch the North East Coastal and Rural Taskforce, a key commitment in our Deeper Devolution Deal with government. There’s a real energy and commitment to explore how we can work together in the North East to improves the lives, livelihoods and landscapes of our important rural and coastal communities. We’re perfectly placed to work with regional partners and UK Government as a test bed for new ideas – it’s great to get started”.

Lee Davies, Deputy Director, Climate Adaptation and Rural Communities at Defra said:

"It is really important to ensure that devolution works for rural and coastal communities, so Defra is incredibly grateful to be supporting the Taskforce in this important work."

The taskforce is supported by £300k of North East Combined Authority funding to develop a Coastal and Rural Economy Transformation Blueprint for the North East. It will set out a series of policy interventions to support nature recovery and farming, build resilience to climate change on our coast, and boost living standards in the regions rural and coastal communities.