Cabinet 3 December 2025

Allocation of community infrastructure levy (CIL) to local infrastructure projects

Purpose	For Decision
Classification	Public
Executive Summary	This report seeks agreement from Cabinet for formal approval of the funding of a programme of local infrastructure projects for the financial year 2026/27, in accordance with the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Expenditure Framework as approved by the Council in October 2024.
Recommendation(s)	That Cabinet: 1. Approve a supplementary budget of £18,365 2. Approves the list of 24 projects at Appendix 1 of this report for inclusion in the capital programme for 2026/27 with a total allocation of £1,018,365; and 3. Authorises the Strategic Director for Place, Operations and Sustainability, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Economy, to make such amendments as they deem appropriate to the approved project lists within 10% of the total budget. Any such amendments will be reported to Cabinet via the financial monitoring reports. 4. Approves the opening of the local infrastructure bid windows, for bids up to £100,000, for the 2027/28 financial year for two-months during Spring 2026.

Reasons for recommendation(s)	CIL is collected to mitigate the impacts of new development on its infrastructure. The CIL Expenditure Framework sets the process to spend this money and the proposals in this paper align with the framework. The recommendation aligns with priorities across the place, people and prosperity elements of the council’s Corporate Plan including: • Place Priority 1: Shaping our place now and for future generations. • People Priority 2: Empowering our residents to live healthy, connected and fulfilling lives. • Prosperity Priority 2: Supporting our high-quality business base and economic centres to thrive and grow
Ward(s)	All
Portfolio Holder(s)	Councillor Tipp – Planning and Economy
Strategic Director(s)	James Carpenter – Strategic Director Place, Operations and Sustainability
Officer Contact	Dean Brunton - Service Manager Planning Policy, Infrastructure and Delivery 023 8028 5454 dean.brunton@nfdc.gov.uk Hilary Ward - Senior Developer Contributions Officer 023 8028 5457 Hilary.ward@nfdc.gov.uk

Introduction and background

1. New development needs to be supported by physical, social, and green infrastructure. Developer contributions are collected to make new developments acceptable in planning terms,providing mitigation that serves to minimises the impacts on the local community and infrastructure.

2. The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) provides funding to help deliver this infrastructure and has been collected by this Councilsince 2015. Annual reports of how CIL is collected and spent are available on the councils website.

3. Two successful bidding rounds have already taken place for funding of Local Infrastructure Projects in both 2024/25 and 2025/26.

4. In accordance with the Cabinet decision of April 2024, further bids were invited between 2 June 2025 to 30 August 2025 against an approved budget of £1m for the 2026/27 financial year.

5. In total 92 bids were received in this bidding round with a total value of CIL funding requested being £3.8 million (rounded). A full list of all bids received can be found in the Background papers to this paper.

6. Funding awarded to projects under Rounds 1 and 2 is allocated for a fixed term of two years. During this period, applicants are required to provide regular updates and progress reports detailing the status and development of their project. Payments for successful bids will be made retrospectively, contingent upon the submission of valid paid invoices. If a project fails to demonstrate substantive progress or if the allocated funds remain unspent within the two-year timeframe, the funding allocation will be withdrawn.

Scoring the bids received

7. Once the bids for funding were received, the process of reviewing the bids involved two key stages; a desktopreview by officers followedby a Task and Finish Group meetingwith cross party elected Members.

8. Once bids had been received, they were validated by officers to ensure that the basic eligibility criteria had been met. At the validation stage, 3 bids werenot taken forward: two being over the £100,000 limit (these were instead included in the Strategic CIL Expressions of Interest) and one not being for infrastructure. One additional bid was moved to a live Recreation Mitigation ‘Green Way’ project being designed in 2025/26 ready for delivery in 2026/27.

9. The remaining projects were then scored against the criteria in para 4.6 of the CIL Expenditure Framework, with each question scored out of 10, except for the Local Plan criteria which was out of 20. The higher the score, the more the bid satisfied the criteria in the Framework.

10. All projects were scoredobjectively based on the information providedin the bidding form.

11. Following this a cross-party Task and Finish group was held in October 2025. The members of the Task and Finishgroup were provided with all necessary information on the bids including:

• the project summary

• location

• total cost of projectand CIL requested

• officer scoring of bids against the prioritisation criteria and

• officer recommendation.

12. The Task and Finish group identified 24 projects were identified to be taken forward for inclusion in the 2026/27 capital programme with an anticipated allocation of £1,018,365.

13. As in previous years, whilst the geographical spread of the projects was not directly considered for scoring purposes, the resulting projectsdo provide a good mix of projects across the New Forest.

Next Steps

14. Subject to the recommendations being approved, all parties who bid for monies will be notified in writing immediately after the decision. Those whose bid was not successful on this occasionwill be offereda chance to speak to officers to discuss and explore whether the reasons for not proceeding at this time can be addressed.

15. Successful bidders will be asked to sign a grant award letter, and officers will work with them to agree the programme for delivery and to agree futurecommunication protocols and publicity for the project.

16. Monies will only be released to the successful bidders on submission of paid invoices and satisfactory completion of works unless other arrangements are specifically agreed with the council beforehand.

17. Where projectswill have ongoingmaintenance costs, officerswill look to steer applications to options to reduce these costs, and with alternative funding options. Officers will also look to direct those unsuccessful bidders to alternative sources of funding available.

18. There is uncertainty about one project (Woodside Park, Lymington) project, where a proposed extension of a footpath would be in close proximity to the existing rugby pitch. It has been confirmed by the council’s Health and Wellbeing Manager that the rugby pitch requires a minimum 5m runoff area, depending on the path surface. Without detailed plans and referral to the RFU it cannot be confirmed that the footpath would meet this requirement. Also, without detailed plans it cannot be confirmed as to whether any mature vegetation would need to be removed, particularly that forming the boundary onto Ridegway Lane. It is therefore proposed that this project is included, subject to there being suitable reassurance that the runoff can be achieved without detriment to the function of the rugby pitch, and that any vegetation removal is agreed with officers.

Corporate plan priorities

19. The Corporate Plan 2024-28outlines the vision,values, and priorities for the Council over the next four years.

20. The vision of the Corporate Plan is to secure a better future by supporting opportunities for the people and communities we serve, protecting our unique and special place and securing a vibrant and prosperous New Forest. This has been organised into the thematic areas of People, Place and Prosperity. By awarding CIL funds to a wide range of projects across the district it will enable new infrastructure projects to be delivered, and existing facilities enhanced,therefore providing severalbenefits to both residents and communities.

Options for furtherprojects

21. The CIL Expenditure Framework allows for further rounds of local infrastructure bidding in future years. Under the timetable for Local Government Reorganisation, a shadow authority will be in place from Spring 2027. It is proposed to repeat the bidding window for a further call for projects in Spring 2026.

Consultation undertaken

22. All District Council and County Council Members were advised of the bids received and offered to make comments.Where comments were received this was fed back to the Task and Finish Group for their information.

23. Where a project submitted was within the New Forest National Park then the views of officersof the National Park Authoritywere sought and considered by officers when scoring.

24. Where a project was proposed for formal open space (or located in an area of formal open space) then the DistrictCouncil’s Health and Wellbeing Manager was consulted for their views.

Financial and resourceimplications

25. CIL is collected and allocated in accordance with the CIL Regulations 2010 (as amended). The monies proposedto be allocated are all held by the Council and therefore there will be no direct cost to the Council.

26. It is recognised by the Council that CIL (and similar) funding is be invested swiftly across the district to avoid the continued accumulation of resources, mindful of the ability to deliver requires appropriately resourced teams.

27. At the time of bids for local infrastructure being submitted, a similar round of funding bids was undertaken for the Community Grants programme.

Legal implications

28. Whenever the council provides a subsidy, regardless of the form it takes (e.g. grant funds including CIL, loans, land at an undervalue etc) to another organisation, it needs to ensure such subsidies are permitted under the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Due to the level of grants being awardedno further actionis required from the council in respect of the subsidy control regime and it will not be in breach should the decision to award the grants be made.

Risk assessment

29. There are no requirements for a formal risk assessment arising from this report, however,the following risksshould be noted. These risks will be continually monitored by officers.

• Failure to allocate CIL funds to projects may not secureinvestment in infrastructure (schools, health, broadband, transport etc.), and making development stifled and/or unsustainable.

• Ensuring the appropriate mechanismand timescales for reporting on CIL funds is followed through publication of an Infrastructure Funding Statement by 31 December each year.

• Whilst unknown at this stage, following Local Government Reorganisation, CIL funds collected by this council could be combined with others as part of a new Unitary Authority. The council will want to be sure that CIL funds collected from developments in this District are spent on projects to mitigate the impacts from those developments.

Environmental / Climateand nature implications

30. The projects proposed will deliver environmental benefits as well as health and well-being and climate change benefits through enabling greater use of existing open space, the creation of new or sustainable walking routes, enhancedcultural facilities and facilitating sustainable travel for young people.

Equalities implications

31. Through investing in the local infrastructure projects identified it will enhance facilities for all communities across the district, and by enhancing these facilities it will create opportunities with consequential benefits for disadvantaged communities and those that currently do not feel that such areas are accessible to their needs.

Crime and disorder implications

32. Through investing in the projects identified it will seek to enhance facilitiesfor communities acrossthe district, includingopportunities to positively address/design-out any existing crime and disorder issues.

Data protection/ Information governance/ ICT implications

33. Alongside the CIL Expenditure Framework is a series of internal governance/process notes. The initial bidding round for the allocations in 2024/25was robustly auditedby our internal audit team who found that the process was in order.

New Forest National Park/ Cranborne Chase National Landscape implications

34. With some of the approved projects providing upgraded and designated routes this will help conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the area comprised in the National Park and National Landscapes by providing a safe trailroute.

35. Additionally, with investment in other some of the other projects in the area, such as new and enhancedplay parks, this can help to take some visitor pressures from the National Park by providing alternative destinations at times.

Appendices: Background Papers:

Appendix 1 - Proposedschemes for CIL allocation (Round 3) in 2026/27

The following24 projects are proposed for allocation and listed in location order (from Totton and then clockwise)

Location	Organisation submitting bid	Proposal	CIL request
Calmore, Totton	Calmore Infant School	Create Nature Play Space	£35,261.58
Dibden	Hythe & Dibden Youth Football Club	Football Club Pavillion redevelopment including improved accessibility	£82,100.00
Dibden Purlieu	Noadswood School	Bike Shelters	£29,127.40
Dibden	Applemore College	Applemore College Community Pitch Refurbishment	£42,280.00
Calshot	Fawley Parish Council	Road Crossing point at B3053 Calshot Road adjacent St George's Church	£100,000.00
Fawley	Fawley Rugby Football Club Ltd	Changing room facilities	£95,000.00
Fawley	Fawley Parish Council	Public toilets at Gang Warily Recreation Centre	£99,338.62
Lepe	Solent Rescue	New Lifeboat (D-Class)	£25,000.00
East Boldre	East Boldre School Fields Trust.	Install a solar system with battery back	£20,303.00
East Boldre	East Boldre Community Stores Limited (t/a Chapel Stores)	Installing a publicly accessible bike repair station	£1,275.00
Lymington	St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery	Fitting water reducing flush and tap systems in the public toilets & installing acoustic treatment in the schools teaching room	£23,638.00
Lymington	Lymington and Pennington Town Council	Woodside Park, extend path to the west side of the rugby pitch to complete a circular path	£29,500.00
Sway	Sway parish council	Sustainable toilet at Pitmore Lane allotment	£12,000.00
Sway	Sway parish council	Storage facilities for the Sports Ground	£8,000.00
New Milton	New Forest Mencap	Accessible Kitchen	£59,884.40
New Milton	New Milton Town Council	BMX Pump Track	£38,890.00
Burley	Southampton City Scouts	Disabled toilet facilities.	£15,000.00
Sopley	Sopley Parish Council	Cemetery Improvements - New Footpath enhanced accessibility	£10,000.00
Ringwood	Ringwood Junior School	Multi-functional learning, wellbeing & care facility	£100,000.00
Ringwood	Ringwood Town Council	New larger Bus Shelter Gorley Road	£8,505.00
Ringwood and Ellingham, Harbridge & Ibsley	Jointly: Ringwood Town Council and Ellingham, Harbridge and Ibsley Parish Council	Speed Indicator Devices (SID'S)	£6,689.00
Fordingbridge	Fordingbridge Infants and Junior Federation School	All weather canopy for swimming pool	£60,000.00
Breamore	Hampshire County Council	Phase 2 Improvements to the southern half of the disused Breamore rail line	£100,000.00
Woodgreen	Woodgreen Parish Council	Speed Indicator Devices (SID'S)	£6,573.00
Hale	Hale Village Hall New Forest	Accessible Toilet	£10,000.00