Brentwood Borough Council has submitted the Draft Community Infrastructure Levy Charging Schedule to the Planning Inspectorate for independent examination following approval by councillors at a meeting of the Policy, Resources and Economic Development Committee earlier this month (8 March).
This follows adoption of a new local plan one year ago and the work undertaken since then to progress a Community Infrastructure Levy.
A public consultation on the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Draft Charging Schedule took place from 12 October until 9 November 2022. Minor amendments were made to the draft schedule to address comments made.
The Community Infrastructure Levy is a locally set charge, paid by developers, on any new development which the council can choose to introduce. The levy is based on the size and type of development and once set, is mandatory to pay and non-negotiable. The funds raised would be distributed by the Council to provide infrastructure which is required to support new development within the local area.
The Leader of Brentwood Borough Council, Councillor Chris Hossack, said: “Immediately following the adoption of the Local Plan last year, our planning policy team quickly switched their focus to working on getting our Draft Community Infrastructure Levy Charging Schedule ready for submission. I’d like to thank them for helping us get to this stage. Whenever new development is spoken about – ‘what about the infrastructure’ is a common concern from residents. CIL helps us provide that necessary infrastructure.”
Following submission, it is expected that the independent examination will take between three to six months to complete.