Poole consults on revised CIL preliminary draft charging schedule

Under the PDCS (14-page / 1.5 MB PDF), the Council plans to divide its administrative area, excluding strategic sites, into five charging zones for residential developments. The proposed rates are £1,300 per sq m in the Sandbanks area; £370 per sq m in Lilliput and Branksome Park; £180 per sq m in North Poole; £60 per sq m in Poole town centre; and £20 per sq m in the rest of the borough.

Residential developments on brownfield strategic sites would attract a charge of £30 per sq m under the PDCS, except at the Former Power Station site, for which a nil rate levy has been proposed. At greenfield strategic sites a higher residential development charge of £200 per sq m would apply.

The PDCS has proposed a charge of £250 per sq m for retail developments in all parts of the borough except the town centre. Borough-wide rates of £250 per sq m for retirement or assisted living developments, £85 per sq m for hotels and £50 per sq m for student accommodation have been proposed.

A borough-wide nil rate levy has been proposed for all other development.

The Council has reassessed its existing CIL rates as part of its ongoing review of the Poole Core Strategy. Its adopted CIL schedule sets rates of between £75 per sq m and £150 per sq m for residential developments. The Council said, in the PDCS, that "overall monies received through CIL contributions could potentially double" should the revised rates be adopted.

The proposed Sandbanks charge would represent the highest CIL rate in the country to date, almost doubling the current highest charge of £750 per sq m for residential development in west London's Knightsbridge.

The consultation on the PDCS is open until 31 March.