Issue - meetings

To consider a report by the Assistant Director of Environment, Growth and Planning.

Approved the contents of the draft Huntingdonshire Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Regulation 123 List.

Further to Minute No. 12/105, the Cabinet considered a report by the Assistant Director Environment, Growth & Planning (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) outlining the consultation responses on the draft Huntingdonshire Community Infrastructure Levy Regulation 123 List. (A copy of the List was tabled at the meeting and is also appended in the Minute Book).

The List, which sets out the infrastructure that will be funded in whole or in part by the levy to ensure that there is no duplication with Section 106 contributions, had been considered also by the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Economic Well-Being) whose comments were relayed to the Cabinet.

Reference was made to the Infrastructure Business Plan for 2013/14 which contains a broad range of requirements across the District that could be eligible for CIL funding in the period to 2026.  In that respect, Members referred to the concerns of Town and Parish Councils that CIL receipts will not be tied to the development area to which they relate and stressed the need to work with them to identify their priorities as part of the next stage of the Business Plan process.

RESOLVED

that the draft Huntingdonshire Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Regulation 123 List be approved.

To consider a report by the Assistant Director of Environment, Growth and Planning, prior to consideration by the Cabinet.

(Members of the Overview & Scrutiny Panel (Environmental Well-Being) have been invited to attend and partake in the discussion on this item).

(Councillor N J Guyatt, Deputy Executive Leader and Executive Councillor for Strategic Planning and Housing, was in attendance for this item).

With the assistance of a report by the Assistant Director for Environment, Growth and Planning (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book), the Panel received an update on the outcome of the public consultation on the Draft Huntingdonshire CIL Regulation 123 List. The List defined the types of infrastructure that would be funded in whole or in part by the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) to ensure that there was no duplication between contributions from CIL and Section 106 Agreements. A copy of the List was tabled at the meeting and it is appended in the Minute Book.

By way of introduction, Councillor N J Guyatt explained that the report set out the position for 2013/14 and that the Government was continuing to change the regulations surrounding the Levy. It was currently considering proposals to exempt self-build properties from the Levy. The Deputy Executive Leader reported that the Council had responded to the consultation on this proposal on the basis that this should not be permitted because small sites constituted a significant proportion of development within the District, and it would make delivering strategic infrastructure more difficult. Furthermore, it could create a mechanism through which CIL was not payable and affect the meaningful proportion which was allocated to town and parish councils.

The Planning Service Manager (Policy) explained that the preparation of an Infrastructure Business Plan for 2013/14 was the first stage of a longer process. Work had already started on the next iteration of the Business Plan and one of the major challenges would be to find alternative sources of funding to meet the shortfall in the resources available for strategic infrastructure. Work would also be required to develop the way in which the District Council worked with town and parish councils on how their contributions would be spent. With this in mind, a series of briefings for parish and town councils had already been held and the Planning Service Manager had also attended a number of parish council meetings to talk about the way in which shared priorities might be achieved. Members welcomed the dialogue which had been opened with town and parish councils, particularly in view of the concerns which they had previously expressed about the absence of local community representatives from the CIL governance structure.

In considering the contents of the report and having noted that the District Council would be the collecting body for CIL contributions, Members questioned whether there would be an audit trail to demonstrate how monies were distributed and spent. In response, Members were assured that partner agencies would be required to provide details of how the funds were spent. Although town and parish councils would have autonomy to spend their contributions in the way in which they saw fit, they would be required to provide an audit trail. Monies would be paid to town and parish councils in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8