Agenda item

Funding collected from CIL should be used towards providing for any additional demand placed on the local environment and services created by new growth, as supported by adopted planning policy. Environment Committee have reviewed the officers funding recommendations on this year project bids and recommend that the spend allocations detailed within this report are considered and, if appropriate, approved by Strategy and Resources Committee. 

The Senior Community Infrastructure Officer introduced the report and advised that Stroud District Council had adopted CIL since 2017. It was confirmed that the types of projects that could be funded using CIL were listed in the Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS) available on the Councils website. The statement had been made deliberately broad to give greater scope for the Council to consider the best type of infrastructure to best meet the needs created by housing growth and the districts communities. It was further confirmed that any project approved must closely align to meet the objectives stated in the Local Plan and the Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP).

The Senior Community Infrastructure Officer stated that 9 bids requesting CIL funding had been received in the current 2021/22 round and it was recommended that the Committee agree to grant funding to 4 of those bids, one of which had been a project variation of an approved scheme agreed the previous year. The Environment Committee had agreed to recommend the 4 projects for approval at Strategy and Resources Committee.

Councillor Turner, Chair of Environment Committee, further introduced the report and thanked the Senior Community Infrastructure Officer for the information briefing sessions provided for Members. They advised that the project for the Stratford Park Pool would require a small amount of money but was exciting as it would provide the potential for a longer swimming season due to the small increase in temperature of the Pool.

Councillor Pearson asked whether there was any reason as to why the North of the district was not proportionally represented in the bids or future potential bids. Councillor Turner advised that the Senior Community Infrastructure Officer did work with Parish and Town Councils to make sure they were aware of opportunities to submit bids. The Head of Planning Strategy and Economic Development advised that currently there was very little growth in the northern part of the district and therefore most of the CIL infrastructure was in the centre, however this would continue to change based on where development was happening. Most of the development that had occurred in the North of the District has S106 agreements, which already provided for those needs.

Councillor Davies asked whether any more needed to be done to promote CIL. The Senior Community Infrastructure Officer advised that they had the right balance in promoting CIL whilst also trying to manage expectations. All Town and Parish Councils had been contacted with the relevant information as well as a wide range of strategic delivery organisations. They stated that Appendix B showed the millions of pounds of infrastructure that may be required over the next few years and stated that it would become increasingly difficult to prioritise funding.

Councillor Hurst raised concerns regarding 2 projects in Appendix B, the Merrywalks roundabout redesign and Brimscombe Port. The Senior Community Infrastructure Officer confirmed that Appendix B contained a list of infrastructure needs that the Council was aware of but no formal bids had yet been received. It illustrated the scope of project needs across the district, but as no project assessment had taken place the list assumes no future funding preference or priority.

Councillor Craig asked whether applications could be received all year round rather than within the current timescales. The Senior Community Infrastructure Officer stated that the majority of projects would be submitted by strategic delivery organisations and that these projects would generally be ‘big ticket items’ costing many tens of thousands.  As such they are likely to require extensive planning prior to bids being placed therefore the bid timescales shouldn’t be a problem. They also encouraged any Town or Parish Councils who were considering placing bids to speak to the CIL team so that good working relationships could be established and project advice and support could be given.

Proposed by Councillor Turner and Seconded by Councillor Ross.

Councillor Robinson stated that the County Council and Environment Agency were also putting forward money to help the Nailsworth flood prevention and drainage scheme and that it would make a huge difference to those affected by the flooding.

Councillor Braun offered her support to the proposals that were being recommended and thanked the CIL team.

The Chair, Councillor Cornell, was pleased to see funding for projects that wouldn’t otherwise receive funding and drew Members attention to the recommendation for funding to Archway School for an all-weather pitch.

On being put to the vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.