There is insufficient money in the pot to pay for all identified infrastructure priorities in the county, it has been revealed.

Shropshire Council’s Cabinet will be told next week that the amount of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) money isn’t as sufficient as expected.

But the cabinet will be asked to pass a motion that the current arrangements remain unchanged and a meeting will be called to identify priority projects.

Gemma Davies, assistant director of economic growth at the council, will tell members: “CIL is a charge on new development to help fund supporting infrastructure across Shropshire.

“It is accepted that there are insufficient CIL funds to support all identified infrastructure priorities for the county. 

“In addition, the allocation of CIL is relatively complex: Shropshire Council is the only CIL charging authority that splits CIL into local and strategic, as all others have a single pot. 

“Further, CIL local is currently administered on the basis of expressions of interest from towns and parishes for projects which effectively means it operates as a sort of ‘grant’ application process, although this was never the intention for the fund; the original intention was to allocate funds in a more strategic and planned way.”

She added: “As Local Planning Authority, Shropshire Council is charged with ensuring that new development is accompanied by the local facilities, services, and infrastructure which are needed to support a sustainable community. 

“The council receives contributions from new development through various mechanisms to help mitigate its impact and to deliver infrastructure to support the development of the area. 

“The effective management of these revenue collection mechanisms and appropriate use of the resultant revenue is essential for compliance with national legislation and to manage the impact of new development by providing the infrastructure required.

“New development can impose a significant burden on existing facilities, services and infrastructure, including those which are the responsibility of Shropshire Council. 

“While substantial sums are collected annually from developer contributions, including CIL and Section 106, these amounts are highly unlikely to be able to support all identified infrastructure improvements. 

“It is therefore essential that this revenue is prioritised and used effectively for investment in infrastructure for which no other funding sources are available.”

She has recommended the council keeps the level of distribution at the same as it is now, but: “That Shropshire Council will, as the charging authority, identify priority infrastructure projects for receipt of CIL Strategic and CIL Local funds as set out in the Place Plans, which will be published in September 2019.”