Communities across Bath and North East Somerset have benefitted from almost £5m of infrastructure improvements over the past year funded by local development.

The money, raised through S106 agreements and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charges imposed on developers, has been spent on a wide range of projects from cycle schemes and bus services to youth services and school expansions.

The details are contained in Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Annual CIL and S106 report.

Councillor Tim Ball, cabinet member for Planning and Licensing said: “We always look to use CIL funding in the best way we can to deliver infrastructure and community facilities, ensuring the projects we support have a positive impact on our residents.

“Last year we approved funding for a number of large-scale projects including our new community recycling facility at Keynsham. However, nearly every community across our district from Temple Cloud to Batheaston and Chew Stoke to Westbury has benefitted in some way.”

The report details how Bath and North East Somerset Council spent £1.74m of CIL funding on Strategic projects during 2021/22. This included:

£550k Keynsham Recycling Centre,

£250k Radstock’s Healthy Living Centre,

£150k Planning and development of cycle schemes,

£45k Bath’s River Line Project.

A proportion of CIL is allocated to towns and parishes. Those with a Neighbourhood Plan receive 25% of CIL receipts, while those without receive 15% capped at £100 per dwelling per year.

During 2021/22 the Bath area received £263k in Local CIL. A variety of projects were awarded grants including:

£125k Bath City Farm Community Hub,

£39k Weston Hub Ball Court & Garden,

£9k Jewish Burial Ground,

£9k Bath City Football Club.

Other parishes across the district received a total of £293k.

Receipts from S106 agreements totalled almost £3.1m in 2021/22. Not all the funding was spent as some projects span financial years. However, £2.4m was allocated, including:

£835k Keynsham East/Two Rivers School,

£28k Somer Valley Enterprise Zone,

£40k Wellow Brook Walk Project,

£327k Bus services,

£155k Youth services,

£10k Keynsham Memorial Park.

Read the annual report: https://beta.bathnes.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2022-10/IFS%202022%20Final.pdf and find out more about how the Council allocates CIL funding: https://beta.bathnes.gov.uk/community-infrastructure-levy-cil-and-council-spending.