Dragon Interview: Cllr Townsend on Waverley’s CIL Issue

Published on: 6 Aug, 2025
Updated on: 7 Aug, 2025

Waverley residents who have received notices that they are due to make Compensatory Infrastructure Levy payments (CIL), sometimes of tens of thousands of pounds, remain angry at the borough council’s handling of the issue.

CIL payments can be charged even for minor developments like house extensions but are mainly intended for developers to pay in compensation for bigger housing projects. (Guildford Borough Council has not adopted CIL, instead it has stuck to Section 106 compensation charges.)

Deputy Council Leader Liz Townsend (Lib Dem, Cranleigh West), who holds the portfolio for Planning and Economic Development, accepted The Dragon’s invitation to be interviewed and give the council’s point of view.

In the interview, Dragon editor Martin Giles asks her whether she thinks WBC has handled the issue well, why it is all taking so long and why WBC has not followed the example of West Berkshire Council to refund unfair charges, an approach the government seems to have endorsed.

Cllr Townsend stresses several times that she wanted to encourage all those affected to refer their case to the CIL discretionary review via a page on WBC’s website.

Please watch the interview here…
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See other Waverley CIL articles here.

Responses to Dragon Interview: Cllr Townsend on Waverley’s CIL Issue

Richard Benson Reply

August 8, 2025 at 1:55 pm

Steve Dally told Council Leader Paul Follows about his CIL nightmare in September 2024.

But Cllr Townsend said she first heard about the CIL issues in December 2024.

Cllr Townsend is Cllr Follows’ go to person for hot potatoes.

In the interview she talked and repeated and talked and repeated and talked. Why? To avoid being asked questions.

Waverley Borough Council have engaged a QC as an independent person. So the review is going to be all about his interpretation of the fine detail of the law. The real issue is a about justice.

Justice delayed is justice denied.