Hambleton District Council has asked that millions of pounds of property developers’ contributions it has collected in recent years be spent in its area.
The council’s cabinet has approved asking for North Yorkshire County Council’s consent to spend some of the unallocated £6.6m it will have received since 2020 before a unitary authority for the county is launched in April.
Alongside pushing forward a move for extra spending on a raft of community projects across the district, a meeting of Hambleton’s leading members also agreed to delegate authority to its chief executive and leader to allocate any remaining Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funds before the council is abolished.
It remains unclear whether the county council, which has previously indicated concerns over similar spending plans in Ryedale, will approve all of the schemes.
Potential projects set to be funded by the CIL funds include £340,000 on a 3G pitch at Bedale, £165,000 on infrastructure for Sowerby Sports Village, to plug a £150,000 funding deficit for the Huby and Sutton Community Shop and £80,000 for the creation of new allotments at Bankhead Road, Northallerton.
Other schemes set to benefit from the CIL money include £8,000 for establishing green corridors in Northalleton, £103,000 to revamp Topcliffe’s play park and £60,000 to refurbish changing facilities outside Thirsk Leisure Centre.
Initiatives also on Hambleton’s CIL list include improvements at Watson Scout Centre, Carlton-in-Cleveland, creating public toilets to serve Northallerton
town centre, an enhanced play area in Tollerton and the installation of speed reminder signs in Thormanby beside the A19.
Meanwhile, the council’s leadership hopes £40,000 will be used to create a multi-games area at Thirsk Primary School, £60,000 on Easingwold District Community Care Association’s proposal for a Man Shed, as a place for those facing isolation to meet.
Helperby could be given £15,840 as part of a large ongoing project to restore
the 5000sqm of cobbles in the village and £47,000 for works in Easingwold Market Place.
However, if all the proposals are approved by the county council, about £2m of CIL funds are yet to be committed to projects.
Planning portfolio holder Councillor David Webster revealed the housebuiding targets for Hambleton had been surpassed by up to 200 per cent, and so there were many houses needing infrastructure.
CIL funds must be spent on the provision, improvement, replacement, operation or maintenance of infrastructure needed to support
development.
Since 2014 an annual average of 488 homes have been completed annually, with the housing growth concentrated in the Northallerton and Thirsk areas, where 1,756 homes have been built, in line with the council’s strategy to concentrate development there.
An officer’s report to Hambleton’s cabinet stated: “This level of development has put a strain on existing infrastructure and facilities and it is therefore important that CIL collected is spent in a timely fashion to achieve
improvements and does not simply accumulate.”
The district council’s leader, Councillor Mark Robson, said while the spending plans would need to be approved by the county council under the rules of local government reorganisation, it was “rightful” that funds be spent where the properties were built.
Hutton Rudby councillor Bridget Fortune said given the funding for cobbles in Helperby “it would be very nice” to give Stokesley Town Council sufficient money to get their cobbles fixed, following a lengthy row with the district council over funding the repairs.
She said: “Everybody else seems to be getting, but there’s nothing. I am speaking for Stokesley and saying could you seriously consider making something and helping to get that off the ground?”
A district council which has vastly exceeded its housebuilding targets has underlined that millions of pounds of property developers’ contributions it has collected in recent years should be spent in its area.
Hambleton District Council’s cabinet has approved asking for North Yorkshire County Council’s consent to spend some of the unallocated £6.6m it will have received since 2020 before a unitary authority for the county is launched in April.
Alongside pushing forward a move for extra spending on a raft of community projects across the district, a meeting of Hambleton’s leading members also agreed to delegate authority to its chief executive and leader to allocate any remaining Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funds before the council is abolished.
It remains unclear whether the county council, which has previously indicated concerns over similar spending plans in Ryedale, will approve all of the schemes.
Potential projects set to be funded by the CIL funds include £340,000 on a 3G pitch at Bedale, £165,000 on infrastructure for Sowerby Sports Village, to plug a £150,000 funding deficit for the Huby and Sutton Community Shop and £80,000 for the creation of new allotments at Bankhead Road, Northallerton.
Other schemes set to benefit from the CIL money include £8,000 for establishing green corridors in Northalleton, £103,000 to revamp Topcliffe’s play park and £60,000 to refurbish changing facilities outside Thirsk Leisure Centre.
Initiatives also on Hambleton’s CIL list include improvements at Watson Scout Centre, Carlton-in-Cleveland, creating public toilets to serve Northallerton
town centre, an enhanced play area in Tollerton and the installation of speed reminder signs in Thormanby beside the A19.
Meanwhile, the council’s leadership hopes £40,000 will be used to create a multi-games area at Thirsk Primary School, £60,000 on Easingwold District Community Care Association’s proposal for a Man Shed, as a place for those facing isolation to meet.
Helperby could be given £15,840 as part of a large ongoing project to restore
the 5000sqm of cobbles in the village and £47,000 for works in Easingwold Market Place.
However, if all the proposals are approved by the county council, about £2m of CIL funds are yet to be committed to projects.
Planning portfolio holder Councillor David Webster revealed the housebuiding targets for Hambleton had been surpassed by up to 200 per cent, and so there were many houses needing infrastructure.
CIL funds must be spent on the provision, improvement, replacement, operation or maintenance of infrastructure needed to support
development.
Since 2014 an annual average of 488 homes have been completed annually, with the housing growth concentrated in the Northallerton and Thirsk areas, where 1,756 homes have been built, in line with the council’s strategy to concentrate development there.
An officer’s report to Hambleton’s cabinet stated: “This level of development has put a strain on existing infrastructure and facilities and it is therefore important that CIL collected is spent in a timely fashion to achieve
improvements and does not simply accumulate.”
The district council’s leader, Councillor Mark Robson, said while the spending plans would need to be approved by the county council under the rules of local government reorganisation, it was “rightful” that funds be spent where the properties were built.
Hutton Rudby councillor Bridget Fortune said given the funding for cobbles in Helperby “it would be very nice” to give Stokesley Town Council sufficient money to get their cobbles fixed, following a lengthy row with the district council over funding the repairs.
She said: “Everybody else seems to be getting, but there’s nothing. I am speaking for Stokesley and saying could you seriously consider making something and helping to get that off the ground?”
Coun Robson replied the Stokesley sitution was different as it was related to a lease, adding: “I’m afraid that boat has sailed.”
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