When a town like Biggleswade needs money for infrastructure it often looks to promote new development in order to foot the bill. All new builds are subject to a Section 106 levy (often shortened to S106). These funds are paid by the developer to the council to fund any works required to local infrastructure as a result of the new homes. This can include schools, doctors, playing fields, roads cemetery and allotment improvements, leisure facilities…almost anything in the community that’s a ‘capital project’ – so new or improved buildings or facilities.
WHAT COMES FIRST, THE BUILDING OR THE INFRASTRUCTURE? For most large planning applications there will be a milestone that the developer must reach before they have to hand over the S106 money to the council. Milestones include things like ‘by the completion of the 100th house’. This is because there are often lengthy delays once an application is approved and sometimes a build won’t happen at all. Even once the money is handed over it might not be spent for quite some time – up to ten years! As a result the infrastructure can lag quite some way behind the building of any new houses.
BIGGLESWADE HAS HAD LOTS OF NEW DEVELOPMENT SO WE MUST HAVE LOTS OF S106 MONEY? You might think so but Central Beds don’t guarantee to spend the S106 money in the place where the new development has taken place. Often the planning application will allocate funding for specific things such as schools and there is a legal requirement for this to be completed. As an Independent Councillor I want as much S106 funding retained in Biggleswade as possible and I will challenge applications where the S106 allocation isn’t specified.
At the moment when the planning application doesn’t stipulate how the S106 money should be spent it can be allocated elsewhere – sometimes in other places in Central Beds. This is where an Independent councillor can challenge and campaign for funding to be retained locally and spent on the right things. Even when funds are allocated in the planning application often the remit is quite broad so roads and safety could be used in existing adjacent roads to make improvements.
SO WHAT S106 FUNDS ARE ALLOCATED TO BIGGLESWADE AT THE MOMENT? A list of S106 funds by Ward is available on the CBC website.
Sometimes money is allocated but Biggleswade is very slow to spend it. One example would be funding for much needed football pitches, where residents are travelling to Dunton to access available fields. S106 funding is available but the council are struggling to identify the land for them so this project is stalled. I have already been in touch with the Town Clerk and several residents who are involved in children’s football and sport in the town to see if they can identify somewhere and take it forward in a timely manner.
It’s clear to everyone I speak to that we have a lack of appropriate infrastructure in Biggleswade to cope with the development that is planned, particularly GP surgeries. Going forward it is key that S106 funds are retained within the town and used for its benefit rather than being allowed to trickle away to other regions in Central Beds. If I’m elected this will be something I will be particularly keen to pursue.
3 Comments
John Agnew
Dear Dr Hayley, congratulations on your recent electoral success. My family and I live on the Kings Reach development and note the lack of facilities in the immediate vicinity. I note your comments about the lack of GP surgeries in Biggleswade as a whole, Kings Reach has a large enough population especially considering the future developments to justify a new practice, and I would urge you to make this one of your quantifiable objectives during your term of office. I share your thoughts about S106 funding being spent where it is being generated, but I would also want to see our elected representatives push the developers through the planning process to build facilities for the people moving in, St Andrews School (East) being a good example. My wife and I both commute to London for work, along with a growing number of people from Biggleswade so consideration for the provision of support outside normal working hours must now be a consideration.
Please add me to any mailing list you operate as my wife and I would be interested to hear of your successes and frustrations!
Kind regards
John and Inessa Agnew
Hayley Whitaker
Thank you for your kind wishes. Please rest assured that the lack of access to GP surgeries is one of my top priorities as it was the number one thing people spoke to me about on the doorstep and impacts on the entire town.
Arthur
My last few GP appointments have all engendered a wait of around four weeks. My wife has experienced the same. It is all very well for the practices to spin the line “phone at 8am” but this is of little use if you are deaf, speech impaired or have other issues preventing the use of the telephone. In any case it can take several days to be succeed in the objective.
I am old enough to remember when all NHS GP’s did not have appointments. The very idea was laughable. You simply turned up at least 45 minutes before the end of surgery, gave your name to the receptionist and waited your turn. One can still do this in several European (and Commonwealth) countries with similarly funded state healthcare systems.
Unfortunately some people in the UK (and some GP Receptionists) appear to view an appointment as a benevolent act on the part of the GP rather than an entitlement for which we have paid in advance. Something of a paradigm shift may be required.