Agenda item

The report seeks to allocate a total of £29,979 of CIL funding to local infrastructure projects to support growth in Three Rivers.

The Head of Regulatory Services advised that the report seeks agreement to allocate a total of £29,979 of CIL funding to local infrastructure projects to support growth in Three Rivers.  The funding was for the Barton Way Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) and would be match funded by the Parish Council who would also pay towards the works.

Councillor Chris Lloyd said there had been a long standing agreement between the Parish and the District, although would like to know how long, and moved the recommendation to support the allocation as an upgrade is required.  This was seconded by Councillor Phil Williams.

A Member asked if there was a formula for how much the Council put in and how much the Parish put in and how do we ensure equity across the District.  The Lead Member for Leisure advised that this was a contractual arrangement agreed a long time ago.  The MUGA needed to be repaired but does not set a precedent for what other Parish/District percentages might be as it is an historic agreement.

The Head of Regulatory Services advised the agreement with the Parish was made in 2004 with the Parish.  Looking at CIL and how we spend it, it does not specify that it has to be proportionately spread across the District or Parish areas. Every application is assessed on its merits.  Officers will be mindful of the scale of development and under the CIL regulations there is a list of criteria which includes details on whether there is match funding and what other funding is being used from external partners to allow the scheme to happen. Any other funding coming in does put the project higher up the priority rating.  There still needs to be some work done on how we prioritise the schemes but there is no requirement under CIL to make it equal across the District or Parish or who contributes what, it will be on a case by case basis and a decision finally for Members.

The Director of Community and Environmental Services said the amount of money the Parish have would depend on whether they have a Neighbourhood Plan, whether they would have had 15% contribution or 25% and how much development would have taken place in that Parish.  If you had too rigid a structure you could be preventing the Parish from enabling some of these things to go forward.  The Governance arrangements approved tonight will go some way forward to making the process more formal but with a degree of flexibility as the point is to encourage things to happen and not to have the funding sitting there for ever and enable it to be spent in the District.

A Member said it would be good to receive details on how well used the play areas/pitches are being used as part of the application so that it can be prioritised.

In response to a question on the amount being asked for the Head of Regulatory Services advised that it was not possible for CIL to cover consultancy costs and could not pay for the sign, it could only pay for the infrastructure costs.  The CIL regulations provided details on what the CIL money can and cannot be spent on.

RECOMMEND:

That Members:

(i)         approve CIL funding for the following schemes detailed in Table 1 of this report and summarised in the table below for 2022/2023:

AND

(ii)        any changes to the scheme proposals or variation of the financial requirements by up to 25% of the agreed commitment to be delegated to the DCES to determine in consultation with the Lead Member.