Step forward for Devon’s newest town’s £29m shopping list

A nearly £29 million shopping list of infrastructure and services for Devon’s newest town has taken a step forward.

Some of Cranbrook’s residents have expressed frustration at the slow pace at which some services and infrastructure have been completed, with some fearing certain promises might never be fulfilled.
But efforts to try and turn Cranbrook’s fortunes around have been bolstered since October 2022 when a development plan for the town was formally adopted.
Now, a small step of extra progress has been made after policymakers agreed how cash from developers could be targeted at the Cranbrook wish list.
Essentially, with Cranbrook about to expand via the approval of new homes, developers are being asked to contribute towards the £28.7 million shopping list of items, that includes a health and wellbeing hub (£7 million), sustainable transport enhancements (6.4 million), and extra care provision (£3.5 million).
The list of 14 items has been graded as either ‘critical’ or ‘important’ suggesting that funding could be funnelled to those projects deemed the most important.
East Devon District Council’s strategic planning committee has this week (Tuesday 3 March) agreed the process for how money will be allocated and when.
The money will come from housebuilders, but because the wish list of items will largely not be on the sites where the new homes are being built, developers will essentially be making so-called ‘off-site contributions’.
The scale of those contributions will depend on how much each housebuilder is spending on infrastructure within each of their developments; if they are spending big on the likes of play parks and other community items where their new homes are being constructed, then their contribution to the wish list will be smaller, whereas a developer not spending much on on-site amenities will contribute more towards the off-site ones.
The strategic planning committee wanted to rubber-stamp an official mechanism for how the spending will work, and it has now done that.
While that committee will have jurisdiction over what funding, if any, is committed and made, it will be taking recommendations from the Cranbrook Placemaking Group, which is made up of members of the district council, Devon County Council and Cranbrook Town Council.
East Devon will then strike the agreement with the company or organisation that successfully bids to create the new piece of infrastructure.
Councillor Geoff Jung (Liberal Democrat, Woodbury and Lympstone) asked how the spending would work, and whether money would be built up to pay for the most expensive items first, or whether smaller, less expensive items might be ticked off first.
Ed Freeman, a senior planning officer at East Devon, acknowledged there could be “competing priorities”.
“You might not want to spend everything coming in as you might want to save for the bigger items,” Mr Freeman said.
Councillor Todd Olive (Liberal Democrat, Rockbeare & Whimple) said the items and sums had already been agreed, and that the only decision that needed to be made now was to confirm the process for how funding decisions would be made.
It’s likely one funding round will be activated per year, but there could be the option to seek a second round of bids within a year if necessary.