Anger as Ryedale Council votes to spend £3m levy pot
Acrimony has erupted after a district council which is set to be dissolved in just over five months’ time announced it would press ahead with plans to spend £3m of property developers’ community contributions – despite being warned to do so could be “unlawful and challengeable”.
North Yorkshire County Council and leading Conservative politicians have been accused of using “scare tactics” by issuing the warning to Ryedale District Council over spending the £3m Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) pot it has accumulated from numerous developments before the district authority is abolished on March 31 next year.
An extraordinary meeting of the district council heard claims the funds would be neededbythenewunitaryauthority for key long-term projects, but a majority of elected members voted to change the way it uses developers’ contributions and invite local organisations to apply for a share of the funds.
CIL funds have previously been used for to boost infrastructure, such as schools and roads, an officer’s report to the meeting shows the CIL funds may now be spent on projects, such as £350,000 towards an anaerobic digester plant at Eden Business Park, Malton, and £200,000 towards the development of a livestock market.
The report states other
potential recipients of the funds are Helmsley Outdoor Pool, Kirkbymoorside Skate Park, and Beck Isle Museum in Pickering.
The vote came just weeks after Ryedale was warned in a letter from North Yorkshire County Council’s leader, Cllr
Carl Les, that its new approach to using CIL funding could be “unlawful and challengeable”.
Cllr Keane Duncan, leader of Ryedale Conservatives which opposed the move, said while Ryedale CIL money should be spent in Ryedale, it needed to be allocated “in a responsible and strategic way, rather than as part of a last-minute spending spree before Ryedale District Council is abolished”.
Cllr Duncan, who is also member of the county council’s executive, said: “This extremely short-sighted approach risks depriving our community of the genuine new infrastructure that’s so desperately needed.
“This represents a shameful waste of council staff time during a period of great strain. Worst of all, it raises hopes amongst community organisations that will ultimately be dashed.”
In response, Cllr Di Keal, leader of the council’s Liberal Democratic group, said most Ryedale District councillors wanted to see the £3m CIL money spent in Ryedale beforethecouncilceasestoexist.
Cllr Keal added: “Cllr Duncan is guilty of a total betrayal of the people of Ryedale with this blatant attempt to rob residents of their own money.
“Whilst the district council still exists, we have an absolute right and duty to put money raised locally into projects of direct benefit to local people. This is money raised in Ryedale and it should be spent in Ryedale.
“He is attempting to stop this scheme in order to hand over £3m to the new North Yorkshire Council that refuses to give any guarantee that this money will return and be spent in Ryedale when the district council closes its doors next year.”