Latest developer contributions of £2.99m fund strategic and community improvement projects

The Council collects money each year through the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), a charge on developers of new developments to contribute towards infrastructure and services needed to support them. In the latest reported year, April 2021 to March 2022, we collected £ 2,993,352.93 that can be used in a variety of ways to benefit local communities.

Investing in strategic facilities and services

Since April 2016, the Council has collected total CIL funding of £11.9 million. This has already helped fund strategic infrastructure schemes across the borough, such as contributions towards secondary school expansions and new health centre facilities.

• During 2021-22, strategic contributions using CIL funds included: £291,083.92 towards the Blue Light Hub in Banstead, incorporating a new Ambulance Make Ready Centre, which officially opened last July. This significant amount helped develop this important centre providing vital emergency services.

Local improvement projects

A proportion of the overall funding raised from new developments is reserved specifically to improve their nearby area.  This CIL Local Fund helps the Council invest in smaller neighbourhood projects and many of these are nominated by residents, local groups, our Greenspaces Team or ward councillors.

The latest projects include contributions to help:

• buy a new tractor for the Banstead Common Conservators for countryside management of Banstead Commons, including maintenance of footpaths, bridleways and permissive rides (£40,310)
• re-tile the Burgh Heath War Memorial Hall roof (£22,596)
• refurbish Merstham Cricket Club practice and net area (£21,166)
• replace the existing Sandcross Lane Skate Park track with a new BMX pump track and build a new shelter (£20,000)
• install defibrillators at Bank Chambers in Reigate Town Centre (£1,762) and Woodhatch Community Centre (£1,635)
• fund a footpath around Marbles Pond and high chestnut rail fencing around the sloped land on the bank (£5,280)
• fund new UPVC facias and soffits and replace guttering at the 7th Reigate Scout Group headquarters building in Redhill (£6,312)
• pay for ‘level-up’ laptop refurbishment at several local schools (£8,450.32).

Give us your ideas

Cllr Richard Biggs, Executive Member for Planning Policy and Place Delivery, says: “The CIL funding collected since 2016 has already helped a huge variety of important strategic and local community projects. With this year’s collection of nearly £3 million, we can invest in more infrastructure and other community improvement schemes across the borough.

“Our CIL Local Fund helps make sure that everyone can benefit from any new development in their area. It gives communities an opportunity to inform how the money we collect from developers is spent to improve the facilities or services in their neighbourhood. So please let us know if you have any suggestions for an improvement project near you that might need help with funding.”

More information

For a full list of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funds collected and projects completed or planned, see our latest Annual Infrastructure Funding Statement 2022.

This doesn’t include any local projects in Horley and Salfords and Sidlow, as money collected into the CIL Local Fund for these areas is passed to the Town or Parish Council to decide how it will be spent.

Later this year, a new Strategic Infrastructure Programme (SIP) will be adopted setting out the strategic infrastructure projects that will benefit from CIL funding over the next five years.

To find out more about CIL, or to submit an improvement idea for your area (via the Project Bid Form under ‘Local Fund’, ‘Project suggestions’) visit our CIL webpages.