Communities affected by large scale development don’t necessarily ever see the planning levy the council places on developers to mitigate the impact, we can reveal.

The present system lacks transparency with no publicly accessible database providing information on how much CIL or S106 has been paid per development.

The only way of finding out if a specific development has been required to pay a contribution, is to look at each individual planning application and read through the officer’s comments; even then it is unlikely to say how much.

There is an S106/CIL tracker on the council’s web site but this only details how £8million has been spent on projects  and from what developments but the council has raised more than £12million (as of March 2017) through planning obligation.

Thornton Heath, Bensham Manor and West Thornton wards specifically have received around £215,000 from this pot in four years. A board of council officers and councillors decide where the S106 is allocated.

The central Croydon Conservative Fairfield ward has received over a million pounds during the same period – more than any other ward.

There is considerably greater strain on infrastructure in the north of the borough with the amount of houses converted and new builds but this doesn’t appear to be reflected in the awards.

Two recently approved developments in Thornton Heath are required to pay CIL but there is no guarantee that money will be spent on improving local infrastructure or amenities.

This includes: The famous jazz venue The Lord Napier which closed last summer and is set to be demolished and redeveloped but stay as a pub.

Croydon planners approved north London based Parkheath Estates Ltd’s application to demolish the existing pub on Beulah Road and replace it with a three and four-storey building including a similar sized traditional local pub with seven flats above.

Planning permission was granted to convert two Victorian houses 6 and 8 Manchester Road Road in to a mixed development of flats, studios and HMOs.

NO 6 started collapsing while the basement was being converted by the developer in to an HMO and has now been completely demolished (pictured). The application allows the two properties to be occupied by a total of 17 residents with no parking provision accept for a bike shed.

The present system lacks transparency with no publicly accessible database providing information on how much CIL or S106 has been paid per development.

The only way of finding out if a specific development has been required to pay a contribution, is to look at each individual planning application and read through the officer’s comments; even then it is unlikely to say how much.

There is an S106/CIL tracker on the council’s web site but this only details how £8million has been spent on projects  and from what developments but the council has raised more than £12million (as of March 2017) through planning obligation.

Thornton Heath, Bensham Manor and West Thornton wards specifically have received around £215,000 from this pot in four years. A board of council officers and councillors decide where the S106 is allocated.

The central Croydon Conservative Fairfield ward has received over a million pounds during the same period – more than any other ward.

There is considerably greater strain on infrastructure in the north of the borough with the amount of houses converted and new builds but this doesn’t appear to be reflected in the awards.

Two recently approved developments in Thornton Heath are required to pay CIL but there is no guarantee that money will be spent on improving local infrastructure or amenities.

This includes: The famous jazz venue The Lord Napier which closed last summer and is set to be demolished and redeveloped but stay as a pub.

Croydon planners approved north London based Parkheath Estates Ltd’s application to demolish the existing pub on Beulah Road and replace it with a three and four-storey building including a similar sized traditional local pub with seven flats above.

Planning permission was granted to convert two Victorian houses 6 and 8 Manchester Road Road in to a mixed development of flats, studios and HMOs.

NO 6 started collapsing while the basement was being converted by the developer in to an HMO and has now been completely demolished (pictured left BEFORE AND AFTER). The application allows the two properties to be occupied by a total of 17 residents with no parking provision accept for a bike shed.

WHAT IS CCIL (Community Interest Levy)

CIL is predetermined as levy rates are expressed as pounds per square metre so these figures are applied to the gross internal floorspace of the net additional development liable for the levy.  Croydon Council charges £120 per square foot.

CIL is divided into two levies – Mayoral CIL – directly to the Mayor of London and Borough CIL of which 80 per cent is currently spent on specific infrastructure projects with 15 per cent of the borough’s levy goes towards the ‘Local Meaningful Proportion’ which for a London Borough is a borough-wide pot and is committed towards community ward budgets where councillors allocate funding to local projects.

WHAT IS S106?

S106 mitigates the development, covers affordable housing and can include public realm works, health and education.

S106 is not tariff based and the  size of the contribution is negotiated between the developer and council based on the specific needs of the community.