A major  plan to create more job opportunities in rural business across Essex has been launched by the South East Local Enterprise Partnership.
The launch of the Rural Strategy follows hot on the heels of £14.5million of new European Union funding announced by Defra, to support farming, horticulture and rural tourism in the county. 
Nick Sandford, the SELEP’s board member for rural growth, said: “Essex may have something of an image of built-up suburbia, but in fact it is still in many respects a very rural county.
“Essex still supports a mass of traditional and innovative land-based businesses.
“They include farming, horticulture, viticulture, wood-land management, animal husbandry, and visitor farms and tourism.
“These sit alongside and are often closely integrated with a broad range of non-rural businesses.”
Micro and small businesses will now be able to apply for awards of at least £50,000 to help support projects to deliver the aims of the Rural Strategy.
Particular stress is laid on developing workforce skills and employment opportunities.
George Kieffer, SELEP’s vice-chair, said land-based tourism was a particularly buoyant area, with attractions such as Colchester Zoo, Marsh Farm in Woodham Ferrers, and Barleylands, near Billericay, “piling on visitor numbers”. 
He said: “To ensure the South East of England has the most buoyant economy in the UK, we need to nurture a vibrant rural sector.
“This includes protecting our precious landscape and habitats, safeguarding our rural communities and supporting the factors that make Essex such a good place to live and work.
“To fulfil this programme requires a skilled and dedicated workforce, and it is particularly important to encourage young people into both traditional agriculture and rural tourism.
“SELEP is delighted Essex is one of the very first areas to be able to take advantage of the new funding.”
The initiative has received the backing of farming and food minister George Eustace, who said: “I would like to congratulate SELEP for being among the first to benefit from this programme.
“The rural employment is hugely important to Essex as elsewhere.”