Agenda item

This report provides information on the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), which came into force in April 2010, and the work required to start on a Medway CIL Charging Schedule, the final version of which would be considered for formal adoption by Council in 2013.

Discussion:

The Assistant Director, Development, Economy and Transport, introduced the report. He advised that currently the council collected contributions from developers via section 106 agreements and the “Developer Contributions Guide” which was a supplementary planning document. This guide set out what a developer could expect to fund for various services in order to meet the impact of a development of 10 dwellings or more.

The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) would replace most of these contributions sought via section 106 agreements, by introducing an overall levy which would seek to fund infrastructure in Medway. An infrastructure plan would be produced to include highway improvements, flood defences, parks, leisure, etc. but affordable housing would not be funded by the new levy. The process of developing a CIL for Medway would be a long one, including public consultation and an examination in public by an inspector, but it was anticipated to be ready for adoption by late 2013 or early 2014. A copy of the draft plan would be submitted to the committee for consideration prior to public consultation.

The committee asked whether the levy completely replaced section 106 legal agreements? The Assistant Director responded that most section 106 agreements would be replaced by the levy, but a few exceptions remained, the principal one being affordable housing.

Members also asked about the information in paragraph 2.19 of the report. Under the Localism Act, a proportion of the levy raised would be allocated back to the neighbourhood where it had originated. If this was located within a parish, then the Parish Council could decide the neighbourhood area where these monies would be spent. However, in urban areas, where there were no Parish Councils, how would a ‘neighbourhood’ be recognised? The Assistant Director responded that he was looking into how other councils had dealt with this and no decision had yet been made about how Medway would arrange this. He advised that in other authorities approximately 5% of the levy raised was returned to be spent within the neighbourhood.

The committee also asked about developers being able to pay the whole levy prior to commencement of the development, as section 106 agreements were often paid in instalments at various stages of the project. If the levy was more substantial than previous agreements, developers might have problems making the full payment. The Section 106 officer advised that developers would receive training, but the onus was on developers to inform the council on commencement of the project. The council then will issue a liability notice for payment within 60 days. The council could introduce a payment plan but this must apply to all developers. Members would be involved throughout this process through the Cabinet’s Local Development Framework (LDF) Advisory cross-party group.

Some Members voiced their concern at the potential for some areas of Medway to miss out on improvements this levy could provide and the possibility that the process could be open to political manipulation. The Section 106 officer responded that there would be an obligation for the council to publish annually the monies received through the CIL and where the money had been spent. The Assistant Director added that he anticipated that a report would be submitted to this committee on an annual basis which would include where, and what, the levy monies had been spent on.

Decision:

The committee endorsed the work on preparing a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), to enable this council to become a CIL Charging Authority, in consultation with other Kent authorities.