Marine Futures promise new opportunities for our next generation

I was pleased to be part of another event last week promoting the opportunities for both businesses and students in marine renewable and green technologies. The “Marine Futures Conference” hosted by Petroc College comprised a day of workshops and presentations exploring the emerging maritime blue economy.

The event highlighted the proximity of our coastline to the establishment of Floating Offshore Wind (FLOW) in the Celtic Sea, alongside developments in clean green hydrogen propulsion systems and even the largest approved seaweed farm in the UK. The opportunities include better paid employment and new career opportunities for our next generation of students as well as supply chain expansion and diversification for businesses.

Part of this game-changer for Torridge and North Devon is the Appledore Clean Maritime innovation centre for which we were able to secure £15.6m in funding from the Governments levelling up fund. Expected to open in early 2026 the centre will provide a collaboration space for research and development and learning. The size of the prize is perhaps well illustrated by the fact that offshore wind production in the Celtic Sea aims to supply a quarter of the UK’s energy requirements by 2045. Petroc will be key academic partner in all of this alongside the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth and I was pleased to contribute a few words to the opening of the event.

I was reminded again this week of the hardship being experienced by a lot of our residents across the district. The daily news headlines reconfirm what we all know that inflation remains stubbornly high, and other pressures such as rising mortgage rates and eye wateringly high rental costs are adding to debt worries for many.

A fellow councillor reported to full council that he had spent some time visiting his constituents in recent weeks and found that while not all were struggling, pockets of real poverty were very apparent. Also evident was in some cases a lack of awareness of the help available to assist people who find themselves in this situation.

One of the major support packages offered by government that people often overlook is pension credit payments. This applies to people of State Pension age but is separate to State Pensions. Pensioners may still be eligible even if they own their own home or have savings so it’s worth the few minutes it takes to check out eligibility.

Those eligible can also get other financial help, including help with housing costs, council tax, heating bills and other cost of living payments. Claiming is quick and simple by calling free 0800 99 1234 or visiting www.gov.uk/pension-credit or via our councils Cost of Living Help pages www.torridge.gov.uk/costoflivinghelp.

More importantly we are still helping people with cash grants or assistance towards purchases from our Household Support Fund in partnership with colleagues at Encompass Southwest, an independent charity providing a range of advice, information and support services. In fact the additional benefit of working with encompass is that they also have debt and benefit advisers, who as well as helping with the grants provided through Torridge, can signpost people to other forms of support available.
Quite often as with Pension Credit the lack of awareness of what is available is the main stumbling block to getting people the help they need.

So if you’ve read this far and know of someone that fits the criteria for Pension Credit or a grant from our Household Support Fund then please spread the word and contact the organisations listed on our website to see how further help can be found. We will also continue to update our web pages with links to existing and new initiatives that emerge which included last week a new HMRC service giving parents the ability to now claim child benefit online. Please help in spreading the message of all the help touched on above to friends, family and neighbours.

Written by Ken James, Leader of Torridge District Council