Black South West Network is delighted to be continuing hosting Network meetings for the African/Caribbean & Asian heritage organisations in the city of Bristol and the wider region in 2020.
The first sector network meeting of the year was kindly hosted at the Malcolm X Centre on the 17th February, and themed around: 'Funding local improvement projects’. An audience of 23 attendees had the opportunity to hear from Keith Houghton and Rachel Mohun from the Community Resources Team from Bristol City Council, who shared information for organisations considering putting forward a project proposal to the local Area Committee for Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) or Section 106 funding this year.
What is Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and the Section 106 (S106)?
As part of the planning process, a developer often has to give money to the council to pay for improvements in the area that they’re developing in. This is usually through a planning charge called the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) but is sometimes through a planning obligation called a Section 106 agreement.
80% of the money that’s raised is used to pay for city-wide projects improving things like roads and schools. 15% of CIL funds and relevant local S106 funds are made available for local decision making by councillors. This is particularly so for highways improvements, parks improvements and tree planting funds.
Areas with a Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) receive 25% of CIL funds raised within their area to support the priorities they've identified. Local councillors allocate the funds to support local priority projects, such as improving community centres or parks. For more information: https://www.bristol.gov.uk/people-communities/funding-local-projects
The session was informative and highlighted the need for further review of the application process, as the attendees felt that previously awarded funding was not necessarily reaching all the communities that would best benefit from them in the the local area. The audience also had several suggestions on how to support the Community Resource team in sharing information about this funding to their peers and other organisations that would benefit from it.
BSWN is delighted that this network continues to provide a platform for black-led organisations in the city to stay informed and build a relationship with local decision makers and funders. We look forward to brining you more bi-monthly meetings of this network in 2020. If you have any queries about the Black VCSE Network or would like to join our emailing list for the network, please get in touch with our team at admin@bswn.org.uk .