While the Government ponders whether the CIL levy is working well enough to deliver the infrastructure that is needed with new development, the County Council is starting to receive significant sums- and needs to decide how it is going to spend it.

It seems quite obvious- near where the money is collected- but sometimes, the effect of development is felt further afield. I am calling for the County Council to agree a clear set of priorities for the CIL fund so that communities can make a claim against the money for projects that fit these priorities.

The county has decided that it should spend the money on three areas:-

1. Libraries
2. Education
3. Highways.

Malcolm Prince looks at refurbished housing in Worthy Down. We want the infrastructure funding to fund a walking/cycling route for the staff and families to get to South Wonston school and Winchester.

The County Councils tells me  that school places will be covered by other means , and Libraries are not in need of capital spends right now.So that leaves Highways.

• I am calling for ‘education’ to cover 0-19, not just 4-16
• I am calling for highways to include (and indeed prioritise) footways and cycleways

You can see my call for funding for these and the Cart and Horses junction in the Cabinet TV extract shown in this link:-

The infrastructure agenda item is item 9- you can see the agenda on the right hand side and click on agenda item 9.

You will note comments by Conservative cabinet members following my statement. I wrote today to challenge what was said: the infrastructure for education pre and post school is essential for our economy and there is no doubt that the Cart and Horses junction is still a thorn in all of our sides, and traffic will be worse as Kings Barton develops.