Proposals to introduce Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) by Cherwell District Council risk stopping development, investment and job creation, according to Albion Land director Simon Parsons.
The authority is currently consulting on proposals to introduce CIL on new industrial and logistics development in addition to the existing s106 charges which developers already pay towards infrastructure.
Albion Land, which is behind some of the most successful employment schemes in the area including the Catalyst Technology Park, Link9 and Axis J9 (pictured) argues that Cherwell’s proposals will bring about a challenge to get the required contributions correct so that new development remains financially viable.
The proposed new levy is £110 per sq m on logistics development and £70 per sq m on industrial development which Albion Land believes is commercially unsustainable, meaning most commercial development activity in Cherwell could stop.
Mr Parsons believes Cherwell could become uncompetitive and unattractive as a place to locate and invest in compared with other regions, forcing developers to look elsewhere.
He says the move would put Cherwell out of line with other nearby authorities, where in most cases no CIL is charged on industrial and logistics property. Only Oxford City Council, Buckinghamshire Council and Rugby Borough Council apply CIL but at much lower levels: £33.74 per sq m (proposed) £35 per sq m and £5 per sq m, respectively.
He said: “Development and investment have been a big success story in Cherwell in recent years.
“At Albion Land, we’ve recently been responsible for bringing businesses into the area including Tesla, Evolito, Origin, Collins Aerospace, Teknos and David Lloyd Leisure whilst providing buildings for companies such as The Menu, Yasa and Bakels to expand in Cherwell.
“These developments have already generated many new jobs and high levels of business rates revenue for the local authority. Each development has been subject to s106 financial contributions for local infrastructure improvements with total payments amounting to several million pounds.”
He highlights schemes by other developers including Tritax Symmetry which has enabled businesses like Hello Fresh, Warburtons, Bentley Designs, Ocado and Prodrive to grow. Most recently, Tritax has announced a scheme of 56,000 sq m for Siemens Healthineers at its Symmetry Park Oxford development which alone will reflect a £250m investment in Cherwell with 1,300 jobs.
He says CIL could tip the balance against further commercial development. Under the current proposals, a CIL charge of more than £6 million would have been applied to the Siemens development, potentially making it unviable.
He went on: “Put simply, the unintended consequences of the proposed CIL charges could be to choke growth and stymie Cherwell’s economic success story. I can’t believe that’s what Cherwell District Council wants but it’s arguably what they will get if the CIL charging levels proposed to be applied to industrial and logistics development are not re-thought and removed.”
Albion Land is submitting a formal response to Cherwell District Council’s consultation, highlighting that the proposed charging levels will make commercial development unviable.
Mr Parsons added: “We support the principle that new industrial and logistics development should help fund necessary infrastructure improvements – that’s crucial to achieve sustainable economic growth.
“The essential thing is to get the right balance and to ensure high quality commercial development remains viable because this is critical if the district’s economy is going to continue to grow for the benefit of the community as a whole.”
Consultation runs until August 23.
Visit https://cherwell.citizenspace.com/planning-policy/cil-2024/
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