Council to spend £4m on community affected by development
Community projects in a neighbourhood affected by development will be boosted with £4million of council funding.
The investment from Southwark council will be pumped into Borough & Bankside to improve facilities, speed up tree planting and upgrade community spaces with solar panels, electric mini busses and double glazing.
The local authority has raised the funds through a levy on development schemes known as the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), since 2021.
CIL is collected from developers to mitigate the impact of construction. About 25 per cent of the funds are set aside for community projects in the neighbourhoods in which they were generated, known as Neighbourhood CIL.
The funding will be distributed throughout the community with Marlborough Sports Gardens, the Scoville Estate, the Queensborough Centre, Lant House and Falcon point all expected to benefit.
Borough & Bankside is one of the first neighbourhoods in the borough to receive CIL funding from the council, which totals £20million.
The amount of money varies substantially by ward. Borough and Bankside and North Bermondsey wards have accumulated £4million and £3.5million respectively, because of the huge amount of development underway in these areas.
On the other end of the scale, wards like St George’s and Camberwell Green have been allocated £12,319 and £23,648 respectively.
Cllr David Watson, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Borough and Bankside: “This is welcome funding to help local charities and community groups invest in our neighbourhoods – including upgrading the Marlborough Sports Garden, the Bede Centre and local parks across the borough in this first round of allocations.
“It’s critical that residents, who endure the disruption from construction work, see the benefits.”
Pictured top: Marlborough Sports Gardens will receive part of the £4million investment, to help upgrade its indoor and outdoor facilities (Picture: Google Street View)
