DEVELOPERS are expected to pay around £1.5 million towards improvements to the centre of Taunton – including pedestrianisation – in the coming years.

A further £6m is expected to go towards new schools in the borough as part of a Garden Town vision for the county town.

The money is part of more than £15m Taunton Deane Borough Council expects to levy on house builders – which it can then spend on local projects.

Developers can contribute towards infrastructure projects such as roads and schools through the community infrastructure levy, with councils being able to build up millions of pounds for major projects.

Unlike Section 106 agreements – a legal document between the council and the developer – the levy can be spent anywhere within a given district or borough.

Taunton Deane Borough Council has estimated it will have more than £15m of levy money to spend between now and 2023, and has laid out a general idea of how it intends to use it.

The council charges the levy on all residential developments in the borough, except those in Taunton town centre and Wellington, and all retail development outside either of these town centres.

Principal planning officer Kate Murdoch updated members of the council’s scrutiny committee on the level of funding at a meeting in Taunton on Tuesday evening (September 18).

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She said in her written report: “The proposed allocations are…associated with the delivery of infrastructure projects for the Taunton Garden Town, and are in addition to the £16.6m New Homes Bonus already committed to delivering the council’s growth agenda.”

The New Homes Bonus is awarded to councils by central government for delivering a certain number of new houses within a given period.

Of the £15.5m of levy funding which is expected between now and 2023, the council is currently in receipt of £3,128,500, with a further £974,000 expected in the coming months.


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The funding has been grouped into broad categories as to how it will be spent.

Around £1.5m will be spent on Taunton town centre regeneration, comprising improvements to the “public realm” (i.e. town squares, parks and communal areas) and the pedestrianisation of the town centre.

The council planned to hold an 18-month trial on pedestrianisation in 2017, which would have seen East Street closed to all traffic apart from buses and cyclists, Hammet Street closed to vehicles during the day, and St James Street pedestrianised between North Street and Lower Middle Street.

The trial was subsequently postponed following feedback from businesses, and the council has not confirmed when it may now take place.

Ms Murdock indicated in her report that the levy money allocated for this area – assuming that the trial is a success – would not be spent until 2020/21 at the earliest.

Of the remaining funding, £6m has been allocated to delivering new schools within the three garden communities of Comeytrowe, Monkton Heathfield and Staplegrove.

£1.5m has been set aside for improved pedestrian and cycling infrastructure (in line with the Taunton Transport Strategy), along with £3m each for improved public transport and flood mitigation, and £500,000 for general “community development”.

The council has said that the specific timings of these projects will depend on the availability of additional funding from other sources, as well as the rate at which the new garden communities are delivered.

Tim Burton, the council’s assistant director of planning and the environment, said that the council had “a reasonable amount of funding” to make a start on several projects.

He added: “Community Infrastructure Levy is part of the funding package, it is not the full answer. It has to be used to deliver infrastructure, and the projects must support the garden town going forward.”

Councillor Catherine Herbert, the mayor of Taunton Deane, said a broad approach was needed to attract funding from as many sources as possible.

She said: “We need to have a plan, so that when the money train comes chugging around, we can jump on.

“A broad specification for these projects is quite right for when the money train comes past.”

The committee approved the proposed allocation of levy funding, which will come before the full council for final approval later in the year.