Community groups can now apply to the Council for up to £100,000 to fund infrastructure projects that benefit children and young people.
The Council has launched the third round of the Community Infrastructure Levy – or CIL – fund, enabling community groups, town and parish councils and not for profit organisations to bid for between £20,000 and £100,000.
More than £1.5m has been awarded to projects across Cornwall since the first CIL fund round – supporting low carbon initiatives - launched in 2020. Funding last year was available to projects benefiting children and young people.
With a high level of interest in last year’s fund, the third CIL fund round will once again support local infrastructure projects which focus on supporting children and young people and help to either alleviate the impact of development on an area or help development to come forward.
Olly Monk, Cornwall Council portfolio holder for housing and planning, said: “The Community Infrastructure Levy allows us to raise funds from new developments and pass this on to community projects making a real difference.
“This third round again keeps the focus on projects to support children and young people – we already know there is significant interest in this fund and I look forward to seeing more innovative ways in which communities plan to put this money to good use.”
Helston Town Council successfully bid for more than £36,000 in the last CIL fund round for the ‘Pathways and Play’ project. Charlotte Caldwell from Helston Town Council, said:
“Helston Town Council is delighted to have been successful with our CIL application, which has meant we can now fund much needed new play equipment and seating for our park which is inclusive- this means greater accessibility for all. I would encourage groups who are looking for support to apply to CIL as it was a detailed but straightforward application process and the support from the CIL team was fantastic.”
St Enoder Parish Council were awarded £60,000 from the last CIL fund round, supporting a project to improve the youth club building. Amanda Kendall, clerk to St Enoder Parish Council said: 'We were delighted to have been successful in the last funding round. It will make such a vast improvement to our youth club provision, allowing us to double the size of the existing facility and modernise the building. The application process was straight forward and the build is starting next month.”
Since January 2019 Cornwall Council has been charging developers CIL as a way of reducing any potential adverse impacts on an area resulting from a development.
CIL payments are set aside by the council to be spent on infrastructure projects that will benefit communities and support development. Between 15 to 25 per cent of the levy goes to the town or parish council where the development is.
The CIL fund has so far supported 35 local infrastructure projects across Cornwall, helping communities create much needed infrastructure in their areas. These include creating a link for sections of the Falmouth green corridor, installing water refill stations at a number of popular locations around Cornwall, school extensions and numerous play and skate parks.
Groups interested in applying for the funding should submit an expression of interest with a brief summary of the aims and objectives of their project. This will ensure that applicants only spend time and effort in working up a full application for eligible and appropriate projects.
The initial Expression of Interest stage will run until Thursday 22 June, after which eligible projects will be invited to submit a full application. Applications must then be submitted by the end of October, with the successful projects expected to be announced in early 2024.
All information, forms and guidance are available at www.cornwall.gov.uk/cil