Purpose

In order to mitigate the impact of new
developments, developers are usually asked to pay a contribution
towards the cost of funding new infrastructure or improving
existing infrastructure. Currently, the Council secures this
funding through 'Section 106' agreements, which are negotiated with
developers during the Planning Application process. Funding is
secured for TDC’s areas of responsibility (such as Open
Space, and the delivery of affordable housing) and on behalf of
third parties (such as education and highways contributions for
ECC, and health contributions for the NHS). S106 agreements vary
from development to development, and contributions towards most
forms of infrastructure are only required on major developments
(i.e. 10 or more dwellings).
The Planning Act 2008 introduced a new mechanism for securing
funding for infrastructure - the Community Infrastructure Levy, or
CIL. CIL contributions are collected on a much wider range of
developments (including smaller scale residential schemes)
according to an adopted tariff schedule – which not only
secures funding from more developers, but also provides certainty
(to developers and the Council) about how much will be collected as
the schedule is based on £ per sqm of floorspace. Certain
contributions (such as the provision of affordable housing) would
still be arranged via the usual S106 agreements where
appropriate.
Essex County Council have now made funding available to support the
Council in preparing and adopting CIL as a preferred method of
securing developer contributions. ECC are prepared to pay a Grant
to TDC to assist in completing a viability study (up to
£20,000), and to provide staffing resources to support the
introduction of CIL (up to £45,000). In return, ECC expects
the first £65,000 of contributions collected to be spent on
ECC priorities within Tendring.
The final decision to implement CIL lies with the elected
Councillors of TDC, and the completion of the project does not
guarantee the CIL charging schedule will be adopted by the
TDC.

Content

To enter into a Memorandum of Understand and
Grant Agreement with Essex County Council, in order to begin the
process of preparing a CIL charging schedule.
Authority for Delegated Decision:
Part 3, Schedule 3 – Responsibility for Executive Functions
delegated to Officers paragraph 4.3 (1) – the Corporate
Director has delegated authority to discharge executive functions
within their respective service areas (Part 3.38). All delegations
are subject to consultation where considered appropriate in the
circumstances (paragraph 4.3 (4(ii) – Part 3.39).