Villages on the Shotley peninsula will be among 27 town and parishes within Babergh to benefit from developer contributions this month – helping communities to keep pace with housing growth.

Town and parish councils can then decide how to spend this money to best support the development of their local area and meets the needs of its community.

CIL payments are a legal requirement paid by developers building houses across the district. These funds are then reinvested by the councils into the communities, helping local infrastructure to develop at the same rate as housing. 

A proportion of this funding is paid directly to town and parish councils, with a higher amount going to those with successfully adopted Neighbourhood Plans.

Cllr Sallie Davies, cabinet member for planning at Babergh District Council, said: 

"With the increase in housing in our local areas, it is really important that supporting infrastructure is able to grow at the same pace and it is through funds such as CIL, that we can enable this crucial grassroot investment in our communities."

These neighbourhood CIL awards are in addition to the £15m of CIL funding given to specific community projects across Babergh and neighbour MidSuffolk since it was adopted in 2018.  

 In the latest round of awards in September, 18 community projects received more than £700K to fund work including play areas, cycle paths and village hall improvements.

The latest CIL bid round is open until October 31. Successful bids will receive their funding decision in spring 2024, subject to approval by cabinet. 

Further information about how CIL works can be found on the council's website Community Infrastructure Levy - Babergh District Council with details about how the levy has been allocated available on the councils' award winning Developers Contribution Database Babergh and Mid Suffolk - Home (exacom.co.uk).