Council to spend money from developments on open space improvements

Anthony Lewis, local democracy reporter

A council is set to spend more than half a million pounds of money brought in from developments on open space improvements, highways and new council vehicles.

A Merthyr Tydfil Council cabinet report for Wednesday, March 5, recommends that £513,029 of the community infrastructure levy (CIL) goes on five projects.

These include £276,029 to purchase an additional kerbside recycling vehicle to help with plastic film recycling, £17,000 towards a dropside trailer for the grounds maintenance team, £140,000 to purchase an additional mechanical road sweeper for the street cleansing team, £20,000 towards temporary highway alterations at Penheolferthyr/Goat Mill Road, and £60,000 towards open space improvements across the county borough.

Charge

The CIL is a charge which the council levies on residential development, and some types of commercial development in the county borough.

The charges are based on the size, type and location of development and the money raised is used to fund infrastructure required to support development in Merthyr Tydfil.

To administer the money received through CIL, a steering group was set up and includes officers and relevant cabinet members, in order to consider schemes submitted for funding.

The group has assessed all applications according to the CIL infrastructure assessment criteria and concluded a recommendation be made that cabinet approve the funding for these five applications.

The funding, totalling £513,029, will be awarded from the CIL which currently stands at £769,041.

Merthyr Tydfil Council put CIL in place in 2014 after approving the charging schedule and an examination by the planning inspectorate.