BOURNEMOUTH council has drawn up plans to distribute some £200,000 raised as a levy on developers.

The borough has been collecting the community infrastructure levy (CIL) since March last year, but until recently had no system in place for spending the cash.

According to the plan 15 per cent of the cash will be available to spend in each ward, or 25 per cent in wards with a Neighbourhood Plan, such as that which covers Boscombe and Pokesdown.

A panel of senior officers will meet quarterly to decide where funds should be allocated, with ward councillors able to make submissions on behalf of their residents.

The levy is intended to fund civic and community projects to off-set the impact of development, for instance by funding new schools or health facilities alongside a major new housing project. Its target does not, however, have to be directly related to the source development.

Cash from the levy also goes towards county-wide causes such as heathland preservation.

Borough of Poole last month agreed similar measures to distribute more than £1 million in CIL it has collected over the past three years.