CIL - your FAQs
It sounds like there is CIL money every year. Does it have to be spent in that year? No. The CIL is like a bank account. Before a development may begin the CIL is paid into the account. From this account, projects are paid for. Spend less one year and their is more to spend in future. Does every council ask local organisations to bid for CIL funds for projects? Some boroughs have decided to develop their own strategy for spending the CIL. They would allocate the fund between their key objectives: say, health, safety or social housing. What is meant by the term infrastructure - what is 'in' and what is not? As more houses, offices and shops are built we need more clinics, schools, ways of dealing with traffic and more leisure facilities. This is the infrastructure. The CIL enables boroughs to pay for it. Otherwise boroughs would have to use Council Tax. Why don't you use CIL to mend the potholes? The CIL is designed to fund new infrastructure: new facilities for schools, new zebra crossings, extra health provision, traffic calming etc. Pot holes occur when the roads have not been maintained properly. Who decides if any project is an acceptable project? In Elmbridge the CIL is broken into three parts: The "Reserve pot", for big projects that might become necessary over the medium term; the "Strategic pot", for projects that could only be justified on an Elmbridge-wide basis; and, local pot, for projects relating to each of the nine towns in the borough. Decision relating to the "Reserve pot" are decided on by the cabinet; those relating to the "Strategic pot" are decided by the chairs of the planning committees across the Borough; and, the local pot is decided by the councillors in that town. For CIL proposes Weybridge consists of three wards Weybridge Riverside, Weybridge St George's Hill and Oatlands. Are there criteria for selecting and approving bids?
- Does the project address impacts created by new development?
- Does the project provide wider community benefit: beyond just the benefits to the organisation submitting the application?
- Can the applicant deliver the project? Does it have planning permission? Is the landowner on board? Are the costing realistic?
- Evidence of additional resources (people or money) available from partners to complement funding.
Are projects ever excluded? What projects have received CiL funding in the past five years? Who makes the decision to fund or not to fund a project? How are these people held to account for their decisions? When is the next local CIL meeting for Weybridge? If you have other questions do contact us.