As LEADER is intended to be a locally-delivered grant funding programme, all decisions on which applicants receive funding are made by selected members of the Local Action Group, or LAG. Each LAG consists of a range of representatives from each of the LEADER priorities, as well as a spread of expertise from public, private and voluntary sectors.
Though a project may successfully pass through the Expression of Interest stage, it is ultimately up to the LAG to decide which projects to fund on the basis of their value for money and the benefits they will bring to the local rural area. While a project may be fully eligible for funding, the LAG’s duty to ensure that the funding goes as far as possible means that no projects are guaranteed to receive funding.
LAG Members
West Cheshire & Warrington
- Rev Canon David Felix, All Saints Daresbury (Chair)
- Chris Brown-Bolton, Development Enabling (Vice-Chair)
- Cllr Louise Gittins, Cheshire West and Chester Council
- Nicola Said, Marketing Cheshire
- Andrew Hull, Sandstone Ridge Trust
- Stuart Roberts, SFR Farming Ltd.
- Joanne Butterill, Natwest Bank
- Doug Haynes, Chair of Previous LEADER Programme LAG
- John Heselwood, Cheshire Community Action
- Stephen Fitzsimons, Warrington Borough Council
- Damien Cutting/Stephen James, Trafford Borough Council
Cheshire East
- Philip Posnett, Haughton Hall (Chair)
- Janet Maughan, Overwater Marina (Vice-Chair)
- Cllr Janet Clowes, Cheshire East Council
- Lucy Rogers, Canal and River Trust
- Robert Parton, Aqueduct Marina
- Nicola Said, Marketing Cheshire
- Steve Wilkinson, Farmer
- John Heselwood, Cheshire Community Action
- Mike Gorton, NFU
- Sarah Callander-Beckett, Combermere Abbey
- Marnie Dobson, Chestnut Meats
LAG meeting minutes are available on request.