Wealden towns and parishes set to receive CIL money

Wealden parish and town councils will receive a share of just over £1.23 million from Wealden District Council’s Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) fund covering the period from 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2025.

This combines with £1.2 million from the previous six-month period to make a total amount of £2.45 million for the last financial year 2024/2025. The amount of CIL received by the council and passed onto parish and town councils has been steadily increasing over the past few years.

CIL is a charge that local authorities in England impose on new developments to pay for improvements to infrastructure that are required because of development. For example, it could be the delivery of play areas, parks, roads, public transport, health facilities, schools and flood defences.

The parish and town councils in the Wealden district receive 15% of the CIL monies generated from relevant development where a development takes place in their parish. That increases to 25% where a Neighbourhood Plan is adopted. CIL monies passed to parishes can be used to support the development of the parish council’s area by funding the provision, improvement, replacement, operation or maintenance of infrastructure; or anything else that is concerned with addressing the demands that development places on the area.

Councillor Ian Tysh, Alliance for Wealden (Green Party) and lead councillor for Planning and Environment, said, “The CIL allocated to neighbourhoods empowers parish and town councils to play a vital role in seeking to maintain residents’ quality of life. Their shares of the £1.2 million will enable them to improve the reach of local services and facilities and cope with the demands created by new development.”