Planning charge under scrutiny in Shropshire
How a planning charge is used in Shropshire to raise funds from developers for infrastructure projects is being scrutinised.
Last September, full council endorsed a report called “A New Direction for Shropshire” which highlighted what the Liberal Democrat-led administration wanted to do.
One of the things was to review the “outdated” Community Infrastructure Lervy (CIL) charging schedule to better shape new developments and their infrastructure needs. A task and finish group has therefore been set up to look at the process and how the money is allocated.
Speaking at a Transformation and Improvement Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting, Councillor Gregory Ebbs said the group ”has a much more comprehensive understanding of CIL allocations,” and have been able to get hold of minutes and agendas.
“We’ve spoken to numerous witnesses within planning, highways and finance departments, as well as Cabinet and portfolio holders,” said Cllr Ebbs.
“We’re asking for an expansion to the terms of reference, looking at the way in which CIL is allocated and the entirety. Maybe it could be charged for commercial development as at the moment it’s only residential.”
Cllr Ebbs explained that the group has set out three stages. The first is examinating the process of CIL, especially in the decision making and the allocations.
“Once we’ve had a full and comprehensive understanding, which we expect to complete by the end of this month, we’ll move on to stage two,” said Cllr Ebbs.
That, he said, will involve speaking to other unitary authorities on how they handle CIL, and if they have any more practical ideas or methods that have been acted upon. Cllr Ebbs said that contact has already been made with Cheshire East and Cornwall councils, with meetins set to take place in February.
“We will then talk to town and parish councils and other possible interested groups to see the end result – how does CIL impact those local communities, especially the monitoring process,” said Cllr Ebbs.
