Purpose

See attached ODR for details

Decision

To accept funding offered by Yorkshire Water to support theDoncaster Humberhead Biosphere and to note future funding commitments from North Lincolnshire, East Riding, and Bassetlaw District Councils as part of future partnershiparrangements.

Alternative options considered

Decline of offers of funding support, while it would not critically harm the application to UNESCO (these being modest sums), would remove an opportunity to build Biosphere partnership working and governance arrangements with the key stakeholders.

These offers allow us to ask question and debate partners’ commitment and expectations, allowing an evolution from a wholly CDC-owned and led project towards greater shared ownership that may give confidence to partners to invest more resourcing (cash, in-kind, joint funding bids, facilitating sponsorship, etc) in future.

Therefore, the option to decline funding offers has been rejected.