Council will spend £20 million on local projects, following Liberal Democrat campaign to release the money

Southwark’s Cabinet next week is finally set to release £20 million of money raised from private developers on community projects, after letting it accumulate for almost 4 years.

Community Infrastructure Levy, known as CIL, is collected from developers to mitigate the impact of construction. Most of the money is spent on “strategic CIL”, and in Southwark has largely gone towards upgrading Elephant and Castle station. 25% of the funds are set aside for local projects however, and this has remained unallocated since January 2021.

Liberal Democrat councillors have been pressing the Council to release the money to fund much-needed community facilities for over a year, and for this money to be spent in the same neighbourhoods that have endured the disruption from living next to these building sites. But each time we challenged the Council to get on with investing these funds, they kicked the can down the road.

In July, Borough and Bankside Cllr David Watson secured a commitment from Council bosses that CIL money would  be released and called for it to be spent where it was raised.

In a welcome move for residents who have seen little benefit so far from these lucrative developments, Cabinet is now set to approve plans to spend this funding in the neighbourhoods where it was raised. We understand that  ward councillors will be directly involved in recommending projects for approval to officers. Without the Liberal Democrat campaign, CIL money would be sitting in the Council’s coffers while the administration conducted endless reviews.

The amount of money varies substantially by ward. Borough and Bankside and North Bermondsey wards have accumulated £4.1 million and £3.5 million respectively, because of the huge amount of development underway in these areas.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Borough and Bankside Councillor David Watson said:

“This is a huge win for the residents who have endured years of disruption from the mega building developments in the North of Southwark. The Labour Council has been sitting on this money for too long, while communities struggled with the cost of living crisis. Liberal Democrats have been determined to get this funding released and spent where it was raised. So I’m delighted the Council has relented and we will now be able to invest this money in facilities and infrastructure to benefit our neighbourhoods. .”