Waverley Borough Council to set up group to look at planning fees
CIL is typically charged to developers as a contribution towards essential infrastructure but a number of homeowners across Waverley have also faced the charge.A review is already being carried out into how and why people were sent surprise planning bills and whether this was done in an incorrect way.At a meeting of WBC on Wednesday Townsend introduced a motion to form the working group so that a way forward on the issue could be agreed."We also need to shine a light on how we got here and we need to make the CIL journey even better for homeowners across the borough," she said."We need to look at what additional guidance and processes we may be able to introduce locally and we need to call on government to act nationally."
Steve Dally from Godalming, who was charged £70,000, told BBC Radio Surrey that he was worried the motion could delay the process.He urged WBC to follow the example of West Berkshire Council, which has previously made changes to help homeowners affected by CIL."There seems to be a lack of appreciation of the impact," he added.In a statement, Townsend said at the time CIL was adopted no protocol was established for discretionary powers for withdrawal of a CIL liability notice, where "genuine errors" had occurred.She added: "We need to comprehensively explore what a discretionary relief policy for Waverley might include, if additional monitoring is required, how we might legally revise or withdraw CIL liability notices and if necessary, define a protocol to ensures the council continues to act lawfully."A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: "Councils are ultimately responsible for their own enforcement decisions in line with regulations and guidance, and we expect these to be carefully considered."We are reviewing how some of the intended exemptions from the Community Infrastructure Levy for people developing their own homes are working in practice, as part of our commitment to improve the system."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
02-07-2025
- BBC News
Godalming man to receive £70,000 planning charge refund
A man who was charged £70,000 by his local council for making "a small home improvement" is to get a Dally had been granted planning permission to replace an existing house extension that was exempt from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), but he did not realise an extra application to make minor amendments was subject to the Borough Council leaders agreed on Tuesday to launch a scheme so which would review if money could be returned - if the local authority had made an being told he would receive a refund, Mr Dally, from Godalming, said: "I'm actually quiet speechless. I think [it's] the shock after all of these years, the trauma, the stress." A CIL is a fee meant for large-scale developers which is used to fund local improvements including new roads and it is estimated about 20 residents in Waverley have also found themselves having to pay tens of thousands of pounds."This battle isn't over," Mr Dally Democrat councillor Liz Townsend, the council's portfolio holder for planning and economic development, said the authority wanted to "rectify any errors". Councillor Townsend also said the council was exploring other measures to help residents, including looking at how it enforces CIL added: "During my time as portfolio holder I can only say that officers have acted in a professional way and there has been certainly no entrapment." However, councillor Jane Austin, the local Conservative leader, said the agreement of the review scheme was a "spectacular failure" to deliver said the delay in the review was "calculated and deeply unimpressive" for people who were still waiting for an councillor added that what had been delivered was "insufficient to address the problems".
BBC News
23-06-2025
- BBC News
Waverley council asks Angela Rayner to reform CIL legislation
A Surrey council has written to Housing Secretary Angela Rayner calling for planning legislation reforms after residents were charged up to £70,000 for work to their Borough Council says current rules around the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) mean there are limited options to intervene when residents face "life-changing financial penalties" for incorrectly following planning comes after a group of homeowners in the area say they have received bills up to £70,000 for works under current leader Paul Follows said it was "hard to justify the same bureaucracy and penalties for someone simply trying to build a granny annexe or extra bedrooms". He said: "If the council makes an error, we'll do everything we can to put it right, but when a resident makes an honest mistake, our hands are tied."That's why we need national reform. Councils must be given the flexibility to act with fairness and common sense." CIL is a typically a payment charged to developers as a contribution towards essential some homeowners have faced bills under current legislation after unintentionally failing to follow the planning application council says it is "working within its limited powers" to fix issues but has called for further powers to be able to intervene when issues is currently setting up a discretionary review system where homeowners can have charges reassessed if they believe they have been billed Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government has been approached for comment.
BBC News
09-06-2025
- BBC News
Local government shake-up is rushed, says Farnham and Bordon MP
The MP for Farnham and Bordon has said a reorganisation of local government is being "rushed' and that authorities like Waverley Borough Council are being forced to merge with places like "debt-ridden" Woking Borough county council and eleven borough and district councils will eventually be scrapped, under government plans announced in the Commons on Monday, Conservative Greg Stafford asked what is being done to make sure his constituents do not have to pay a "financial price".Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said the government is offering "unprecedent support" and that the changes to councils will lead to improvements for residents. Proposals for Surrey include merging existing council areas into two or three new unitary declared itself effectively bankrupt in 2023 with £2bn of debt, and has since increased council tax and cut said: "The rushed local government reorganisation means that Waverley Borough Council in my area will be forced to join with other authorities like Woking which are debt- ridden."What is the Secretary of State going to do to ensure that residents in my area don't pay a financial price for the woes of other authorities?"Rayner told the Commons that there is no proposal for council debt to be written off, but the government accepts that authorities like Woking have "significant unsupported debt that cannot be managed locally in its entirety"."We have committed providing an initial amount of debt repayments support for these councils in 2027/2027, ahead of the reorganisation," she added that this "is unprecedented support from government".
