No applicants for planning fee review scheme

Waverley Borough Council said it would review community infrastructure levy (CIL) bills for residents

A promised review of cases involving homeowners who believe they have been wrongly hit with huge developer fees has so far drawn "exactly no applications".

Waverley Borough Council (WBC) said it would review community infrastructure levy (CIL) bills for residents after some homeowners claimed they had incorrectly received bills of up to £70,000.

Not a single person has gone through this process since its launch, after they were told the council's decision would be final with remedial actions unclear, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A group of residents has previously expressed concerns over the scope of the review scheme.

WBC, which has lined up an independent barrister to assess each individual application, has urged people to trust the process.

"The independent person reviewing the case will look at every element of the case, regardless of who has made the mistake," officers told the executive committee on 5 August.

"In the event of a council error as per the legal advice, the liability notice can be withdrawn and the matter addressed swiftly."

The review is being kept as open as possible, the council added.

Leader of the council, Paul Follows, added: "We are likely talking about quite individual types of error and we've specifically and clarified again that we are not blocking any type of error from being assessed by this process.

"As of right now, despite the amount of people that have come to speak about this and the number of times they have, there have been exactly no applications to the discretionary review."

A perceived lack of clarity is the key concern voiced by the CIL Injustice Group, whose members say they had been told the scheme covers resident and agent errors, despite the council website saying it only covers "errors by the council".

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