Infrastructure Delivery Plan (Feb 2013) - Runnymede Borough Council

Chapter 16. Delivery Plan
16.1 The IDP concludes that over the plan period, the amount of forecasted development, in
conjunction with the subsequent growth in population will require new or improved
infrastructure to be provided. The key areas which have been identified are:
• Provision of additional early years, primary and secondary school places will
be required to support growth over the plan period;
• Improvements to the Borough’s transport network to improve capacity, ease
congestion and improve safety;
• Continued provision of sufficient Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace
(SANGS) to mitigate against the impact of new residential development on
the Thames Basin Heath Special Protection Area (TBHSPA) over the plan
period;
• Improvements to the Borough’s open spaces; and,
• Provision of infrastructure to support the delivery of the mixed use
development which is forecasted to come forward at the former DERA site.
16.2 Improvements will be delivered by a range of providers and through a variety of
budgets. Delivery of certain infrastructure will require partnership working between the
private and public sectors, for example at the former DERA site. Some infrastructure, in
particular, improvements to the transport network, will at times, be funded by developer
contributions.
16.3 What is evident from both County and Borough capital budgets is that the capital
finances available at the current time to support infrastructure improvements/provision
are at a low level. Specifically, capital spending at Borough level is frozen at the current
time. It is unknown how long capital spending will be frozen for. At County level, the
County has produced a medium term financial plan (MTFP) for 2013/18. As part of this
plan, the County has set a capital programme for the next 5 years of £683 million (this
figure is as stated in the October 2012 budget monitoring review 56 ). A significant
proportion of this money (originally estimated at £197 million 57 ) will be borrowed. The
remainder of the capital funding will come from government grants, revenue and capital
reserves, third party contributions and capital receipts.
16.4 Capital funding for district council led improvements comes principally from capital
receipts from the sale of land and property in the Council’s ownership. However, the
increasing costs faced by the Council, in conjunction with the reduced revenue budget
from central government, mean that capital receipts play an important tool in ensuring
income to the revenue budget via the investment income that they attract. Delivery of
capital improvements will largely be funded through a combination of developer
contributions, other ad hoc capital sources such as lottery funding and where available,
the use of capital receipts.
16.5 In terms of infrastructure which is expected to be required over the plan period, it is
considered that infrastructure can either be considered as ‘essential’ or ‘desirable’. The
IS in Appendix 1 categorises the forecast infrastructure as such. As noted in chapter 1
of this report, essential infrastructure in this context represents items without which the
development forecasted in the Local Plan could not come forward. Desirable
infrastructure represents items which, whilst not vital to unlock growth, will support
growth and benefit local communities over the plan period.
56
Budget monitoring-October 2012
57
Surrey County Council Medium Term Financial Plan 2012-2017, Section 1: Overview
Page | 167
Runnymede IDP DRAFT – February 2013