Developer cash set to help preserve local history and update community facilities

Babergh and Mid Suffolk communities are set to see more than £836,000 injected back into local projects – including major investments in helping to protect local heritage and village hall improvements – thanks to money collected from developers.

This week, cabinet members at Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils voted to approve the latest round of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) bids which includes a total of £200K towards Stowmarket’s Food Museum, in addition to projects such as footpath and bridleway upgrades, improvements to village halls, sports pavilions and parks.

CIL payments are a legal requirement paid by developers of residential sites across the districts.

Bids made for CIL funding are reviewed regularly by the councils and funding is earmarked for those projects that help enable local infrastructure to grow alongside housing developments.

This round of CIL will fund six successful projects in Babergh and 13 in Mid Suffolk.

Since May 2018, Babergh and Mid Suffolk have issued thirteen rounds of CIL funding totalling more than £15 million, all of which has been provided to infrastructure projects across the districts.

In Babergh, the successful bids include works at Belle Vue Park to create provision for disabled access to the park, toilets, and a changing places facility as well as energy efficiency upgrades to a village hall in Boxted and Hartest.

Sallie Davies, cabinet member for Heritage, Planning and Infrastructure at Babergh District Council, said: “This has been a fantastic round of CIL funding for our local communities.

“Babergh really needs these projects and I am thrilled to see us allocating funds to allow these projects to take place.   I look forward to seeing them come to fruition.”

Mid Suffolk sees three successful bids for £100k projects which includes an extension to the area currently used to conserve historic objects at Stowmarket’s Food Museum, together with new toilets and changing places facilities for the attraction, as well as an extension to Baylham Village Hall.

Andrew Stringer, cabinet member for Heritage, Planning and Infrastructure at Mid Suffolk District Council, said: “I am really pleased to see the next round of CIL allocations for local community projects.

“I am especially pleased that so many footpath and cycleway applications are now being approved.

“I look forward to seeing some of these projects come to life and seeing our communities reap the benefits.”