Taunton Deane CIL charging schedule gets examination approval

The Council had proposed in the CS to set nil rate residential and retail levies in Taunton Town Centre and Wellington. It had proposed a residential rate of £70 per square metre for the rest of Taunton and £125 per sq m across the rest of the borough. For retail developments it had proposed a rate of £140 per sq m across the rest of the borough.

The examiner said in his report (11-page / 70.66KB PDF) that two modifications to the CS were needed, including a clarification of the Council's intention to apply lower residential charging rates to broad locations for growth on the periphery of Taunton.

"Ultimately it will be necessary for the Council to review its charging zones but until this is done I consider it would assist in clarifying the status of these large-scale peripheral locations by including a footnote in the schedule and adding a notation to the plan," he said.

The examiner also recommended that the Council should clarify the range of uses to which the rates for retail development apply. He said that it had not been clear from the CS that the retail rate would apply across all retail use classes.

The examiner concluded that the Council had "tried to be realistic in terms of achieving a reasonable level of income to address an acknowledged gap in infrastructure funding while ensuring a range of development will remain viable if the charge is applied".

The Council said in a statement that it would now amend the CS before taking it through its committee structures. It said it intends to begin charging CIL from April 2014.