During this week’s (10th July) question time session to the First Minister, Mr. George raised concerns regarding the eligibility of Carno to access grant funding from the Upper Severn Valley Heritage Fund, as claims have been made by Carno Community Council that the village has been designated ‘outside’ of the Severn Valley area by Welsh Government officials.
The Upper Severn Valley Heritage Funding scheme, which is part of the £7.5m Severn Valley Regeneration Programme, is a jointly funded initiative comprising support from the European Regeneration Development Fund, the Welsh Assembly Government and Powys County Council. The objective of the scheme is to improve the external fabric of business and commercial properties of heritage interest within the Severn Valley in order to enhance the ‘vitality and viability of the Severn Valley’ and encourage inward investment.
The First Minister responded to the Montgomeryshire AM by saying that he would look into the matter.
Commenting, Mr George said:
"I am pleased the First Minister is going to re-examine this issue because the representations I have received from Carno indicate that an error was made when the eligibility criteria was initially drafted.
"Carno Community Council have told me that as it currently stands, the designation made by the Welsh Government means that the qualifying boundary area ends at the Clatter-Carno electoral boundary and this is preventing individuals and businesses in Carno from applying to the funding scheme.
"But it’s clear to anyone who lives in the area that if Clatter is deemed part of the Severn Valley, then so should Carno and there can be no justification for the village to be excluded.
"In fact it can be strongly argued that the logical qualifying boundary should be that between Carno and Llanbrynmair electoral districts which, historically and geographically, has been seen as the divide between the Severn and Dyfi valleys.
"The First Minister has committed himself to reviewing this but it needs to be undertaken with some urgency because with the application deadline fast approaching, I don’t want to see Carno residents and businesses unfairly disadvantaged by a potential postcode blunder."