West Norfolk Council supports Runcton Holme business branch out with new boat for tree removal scheme

A West Norfolk company has branched out after carrying out a tree removal scheme with a new boat.

After receiving a grant of £31,250 from Rural England’s Prosperity Fund, Sam Cotes of SCS East Anglia, based at Manor Farm in Runcton Holme, named the boat Lady Penelope after his daughter.

The grant was delivered by Norfolk County Council on behalf of West Norfolk Council.

Sam was supported with his application by the New Anglia Growth Hub and the county council’s programmes team.

Businesses from all over the district were welcomed to bring forward capital investment projects that would have a” massive impact on their business as well as the local communities”.

Grants between £10,000 and £100,000 were accessible and the maximum intervention was 50% of eligible capital costs.

The success of the West Norfolk project involved a public safety risk assessment for the removal of trees, and each year the trees on Environment Agency sites are examined to see if they cause a hazard for the public.

The trees that are deemed unsafe were then removed or reduced until the area is safe. The project took part in Godmanchester, in Cambridgeshire.

Where these trees are in sites of specific scientific interest, it causes several issues - and in this case, they could only be accessed by a boat or pontoon.

This meant the project needed to purchase a specialist riverboat.

The vessel allowed the work to be carried out more efficiently and safely but it has also led to the outcome of even more opportunities, such as the removal of invasive seaweed in a Natural England project in Budle Bay, Northumberland.

Sam said: “This grant enabled the business to purchase a new boat, and this has had an immediate effect with new business generation.”

Business advisor Anthony Goggin was able to support Sam’s request from the beginning to the end.

Anthony added: “It was a pleasure to work on this novel project with Sam and see its wider business impact on the local economy and the wider environment.

“Every day is a ‘school day’ and from this project I learnt that boats are sold in 64 equal parts or shares – an ancient measure still used today.”

Reporting by Abigail Watson