THE amount developers pay towards the provision of services and facilities in east Devon is set to increase.

Members of East Devon District Council’s strategic planning committee have agreed a draft revised Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charging schedule and instalment policy which will overall increase the financial contributions sought from developers towards the provision of services and facilities, such as schools, roads and open space.

The draft is now being consulted on and responses will be considered before a further draft schedule is prepared and consulted on in the spring.

A public examination of the schedule is anticipated to take place in the late summer/early autumn.

The original charging schedule has been in use since 2016.

The proposed revised charging schedule seeks to impose higher charges for residential development, increasing by just over £50 per square metre in most urban sites.

Rural exception sites would now be exempt as their purpose is to deliver affordable housing and cannot afford to pay CIL.

The report also proposes reducing the CIL rate for out of town retail uses, acknowledging that current challenges in the retail sector are making this unaffordable.

The report also proposes a revised instalment policy, which enables developers to pay their CIL in instalments while the development is built out.

Cllr Paul Diviani, chairman of the strategic planning committee, said: “The revised CIL charging schedule will put us in a much better position in delivering the services and facilities that it is vital that we deliver alongside new homes and jobs in the district to ensure that these developments are vibrant communities and not just housing estates.

“We want to provide vibrant and active places to live and work with a real community spirit but to deliver them we need funding and it is only right that the developers make an appropriate contribution towards this.”

The draft document can be found at www.eastdevon.gov.uk