A PLEA been made for a fairer and more open system to decide how pots of cash from developers are spent in the community.

Weymouth councillor David Gray says Dorset Council needs to consult wider, both with the public and town and parish councils before, rather than after, decisions are made.

Criticism of the system has also come from Sherborne councillor Jon Andrews – who said it is unfair that the share of funding goes up (from 15% to 25%) if the area involved has an adopted neighbourhood plan.

He said many small parishes were unable, or did not want, a neighbourhood plan which can take two or three years to produce.

He was told that the rule was laid down by Government and was not negotiable.

Weymouth Radipole councillor David Gray said he wanted to see communities have greater involvement in how grants were allocated in addition to consulting town and parish councils.

Dorset Council holds funds from developer financial contributions which are designed to be mainly spent in the area where building projects take place. They are made up of what is known as Section 106 contributions, usually targeted at specific projects, and Community Infrastructure Levy funding (CIL) which can be applied for and are designed to improve the facilities of an area. The CIL funding can also be used, in some circumstances, for ongoing projects to pay for maintenance and repairs.

Dorset Council currently has around £1.83m in CIL funds available for bids.

Cllr Gray said there should be more consultation with the wider community where money was due to be spent – with the only communication often coming after a decision had been made, usually by a council officer and a Cabinet member.

“There has been very little, or no, community consultation and very little with town and parish councils…we need to beef this up so there is meaningful consultation,” said Cllr Gray.

Cllr Mark Roberts (Chesil Bank) said many of the smaller parishes in his area felt no direct benefit from CIL payments or S106 money as they seldom had any local building projects and some did not even have a play area they could spend any contribution on.

Officers are to produce guidance about how the funding scheme operates and how grants can be applied for – together with information about how parishes and town councils can work together on collaborative projects using CIL funding.