This document provides an overview of Wokingham Borough Council's experience implementing the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). It discusses WBC's adopted CIL rates, which are among the highest in the country. It also describes how CIL and section 106 agreements are used to fund infrastructure for strategic development locations, with CIL funding major transport and education projects and S106 providing on-site infrastructure. The document outlines WBC's governance structure for overseeing infrastructure delivery and allocating CIL funds. It acknowledges some challenges implementing CIL and working with parish councils on spending the neighborhood portion of funds.

1. Making CIL Work – Wokingham
Borough Council Experience
Brendan Troy
Service Manager - Community
Infrastructure Delivery
E: brendan.troy@wokingham.gov.uk
T: 0118 974 6824

2. CIL Implementation in WBC
• Regional Context
• WBC CIL Rates
• Route to WBC Rates
• CIL Administration in WBC
• CIL Governance in WBC
• CIL and Strategic Delivery Location (SDL)
Infrastructure Delivery
• Governance of the CIL ‘Topslice’ in WBC

3. Regional Context

4. Adopted WBC CIL Rates
• Adopted 6th
April 2015
• Highest residential rate outside London
• Headline - residential - £365 SqM – outside SDLs
• Development Strategy - 4 SDL’s
– Arborfield 3500 houses - £365/sq.m
– North Wokingham 1500 houses - £340/sq.m
– South Wokingham 2500 houses - £320/sq.m
– Shinfield (SM4) 2500 houses - £300/sq.m
• Sheltered housing, residential institutions and retail
outside town/district centres

5. Route to SDL Rates
• Core Strategy 2010 - Change of direction –
comprehensive not incremental development -
Masterplan SPD for the 4 SDLs
• Over-arching Infrastructure SPD and individual
IDP for each SDL
• Concerns about the pooling restriction - Strategic
large scale infrastructure would stop unless we
had CIL
• Consulted development industry
• Council left with little choice but to pursue a CIL-
focused strategy

6. Track record of Delivery
• Formed dedicated Delivery Team and
governance structures to progress the SDLs
• Strong track record of delivery over last 3-5
years
– Planning – feasibility studies for 3 relief roads
– Acquired Farm for sports hub
– LSIF for Eastern Relief Road (delivered
2016/17), £24m Local Growth Fund
– Built 3 new schools 2012/13, secondary school
2016/17

7. Role of CIL - WBC
• Strategic Transport infrastructure
– South Wokingham Distributor Road (including Road
over Rail Bridge)
– Replacement railway bridges
• Primary and Secondary Education
• Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG)
• Indoor & Outdoor Sport Facilities
• Community Centres / Halls / Libraries
• Health Centre / GP Surgeries / Emergency
Services

8. Role of S106 - WBC
• Section 106 agreements cover the following:
Affordable Housing; Strategic Access and
Management Monitoring (SAMM); Enabling works;
site access junctions; Travel Plans; Fire hydrants
• In addition, within the SDLs:
- Land for the provision of Transport Infrastructure,
Education Infrastructure, Green Infrastructure,
and Community/Social Infrastructure
- On-site and off-site delivery of Suitable
Alternative Greenspaces (SANG)
- Amenity open space and play areas

9. CIL to Date
• Income - £90k
• Demand Notices - £150k
• Liability Notices - £540k
• Consented a further 1,620 dwellings
subject to S106 Agreement – potential
£37m (circa)
• Reliefs - £1.9m

10. CIL and S106 Team Structure

11. CIL Administration in WBC
• Business support – Identify CIL liable
applications, upload forms, send follow up
letters, measure plans using .pdf software
• Planning officers – minimal role - attach
informatives, advise on approximate liability
• CIL team – Issue liability / demand notices
(invoices) / process reliefs / notify land charges /
CIL Appeals / allocate funds
• Finance – invoices / debt recovery
• Infrastructure Finance Board

12. CIL Administration in WBC
• Lack of understanding – small developers
and agents in particular
• So many forms!
• Assumption of Liability is not a validation
requirement
• Extensions over 100sq.m – there are a lot
of them in WBC - heavy on admin / no CIL
• Extensions relief – principal residence

13. CIL Administration issues
• New finance processes to set up
• SANG and self-build relief – exempt
European Directives from pooling?
• Not possible to grant relief for
development granted retrospectively on
appeal
• Heavy penalty for failure to notify
commencement – reinforce this message!

14. CIL Administration in WBC
• Beware of basements

15. WBC CIL Governance and
Infrastructure Delivery
• Infrastructure Delivery Programme Board (IDPB)
• Reports to Sustainable Communities Working
Group and Executive
• Meets monthly and brings all service heads
together
• Remit is to manage infrastructure delivery–
projects are monitored monthly - from inception to
completion
• IDPB informs Capital Planning - CIL funds
allocated through Capital Programme

16. CIL and SDL infrastructure Delivery
• Arborfield SDL - 3500 units - 2,000 units S106 /
1500 CIL (subject to S106)
• South Wokingham SDL – 650 under
construction, 1850 will come forward under CIL
• Circa £66m CIL between the two sites
• CIL will fund strategic transport improvements
(including South Wokingham Relief Road);
contribute to a secondary school; primary
schools on-site; community and sports facilities
• S106 will provide land for on-site delivery

17. CIL and SDL infrastructure Delivery
• High rates are not preventing housing coming
forward
• Less protracted negotiation
• Necessity to have IDPs on SDLs at an early
stage and in consultation with developers
• Strategic enabling infrastructure is often required
on SDL’s
– Local authority is key delivery partner but no ability to
borrow against CIL
– Large Sites Infrastructure Fund (LSIF) only available
to developers not LA’s

18. CIL and SDL Infrastructure Delivery
• Strategic enabling infrastructure is often required
on SDL’s
– Widely held view that the Payment in Kind for
Infrastructure mechanism is not workable
• We believe a wider interpretation can be
provided
– On Reg 123 List – not necessary in planning terms
as it will be provided by other means
– Separate planning applications on strategic sites
• Any further clarification would be helpful

19. WBC Meaningful Proportion
• 17 Parishes – 3 Parishes will benefit from 99%
of WBC ‘CIL Topslice’
• Small organisations which lack staff / knowledge
/ skills to prioritise / commission / finance to deal
with large amounts of infrastructure funding
• Significant drain on SDL infrastructure packages
on sites that affect more than one Parish
• WBC working very closely with Parishes

20. Shared priorities /
responsibilities

21. Terms of Reference
• WBC and T&PC’s working on a ‘Terms of
Reference for the management of the CIL’
• Year long process of engagement – workshops,
clerks forums, 1 to 1’s
• Three strands – not finalised:
– Co-fund infrastructure projects with WBC – WBC
would lead on commissioning, procurement and
delivery
– Deliver on their own – WBC offer design and
build package / traded services
– Joint Commissioning

22. Questions?