Arun Local Plan elements to be prioritised due to funding gap

Littlehampton councillor Derrick Chester

Arun district councillors are due to meet tomorrow (September 27) to discuss introducing a Community Infrastructure Levy, which would see developers charged a fee per square metre to go towards measures such as road improvements.

The levy follows the approval of the Arun Local Plan, which sets out a vision for thousands of new homes over the coming years.

As part of the evidence gathered to put the plan together, a report was compiled to detail the measures to ease the impact of the housebuilding projects.

The report to the Community Infrastructure Levy sub-committee today stated there was a £270million funding gap to deliver these projects, reducing to £49million when developers building the main housing schemes contributed.

The levy would help plug that gap – but the report warned: “Concern exists that the amount that could be generated by the Community Infrastructure Levy would not completely fill this gap.

“However it must be remembered that some of the items in the (infrastructure delivery report 2017) are aspirational, and some prioritisation will be necessary.”

The sub-committee will be asked to note the findings of a viability report, with work ongoing to implement a levy.

Littlehampton town councillor Derrick Chester urged Arun to ‘get on with it as quickly as possible’.

He said: “If there was a funding gap, that should have been identified when the Local Plan was discussed,” he said.

“If they didn’t have the community levy, the funding gap would be even greater.”

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