Published: Wednesday, 4th May 2022
From zero emission community transport to making sailing more accessible: there’s enormous variety to the community projects going ahead thanks to more than £580,000 of CIL funding.
Using money raised from a levy charged on new development, CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) enables the borough council to provide funding for a range of schemes that benefit communities across west Norfolk.
Cllr Richard Blunt, cabinet member for development and regeneration, said:
“It’s lovely looking through the list of projects we’re supporting because you can really imagine how they will improve people’s lives.
“Some of them are quite local to the communities in which they will be delivered, for example play parks, bus shelters and upgrades to village amenities.
“Others will have much wider benefits. Upgrades to community sports facilities to make them more accessible or expand opening times helps people from a wider area to participate in activities that are good for mental and physical wellbeing.
“Community transport means people who can be independent but need help getting from A to B can still get around – and in an environmentally-friendly way, too.
“My thanks go to the applicants and to the officers and councillors who have spent a lot of time carefully reviewing applications to ensure the maximum benefit was achieved for west Norfolk through the CIL scheme.”
The government imposes duties on local authorities to bring forward new homes – in west Norfolk that figure is currently 549 per year. CIL is charged on the majority of new development and is an important source of funding for councils to use to help them deliver improvements to community facilities and services. Local schemes are set up to decide the charging schedule criteria for individual boroughs. It is paid to parishes in addition to CIL funding for developments in their areas.*
There are two rounds of applications each year. The next round will open in July.