Dear Editor,

I write to follow up on Patrick Hughes’ letter in your March 23rd edition, about the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), which is coming in soon. I know that this is a terminally boring subject for most people, but it is important. Because if we can get a Neighbourhood Plan in place, Ross-on-Wye Town will receive 25%, not 15%, of all developer CIL contributions.

Over the lifetime of the Neighbourhood Plan, that might equate to tens of thousands of pounds, perhaps even more. That will be money that we can spend in Ross on what we want, rather than what the planners and politicians in Hereford want to spend it on. The money will have to be spent on infrastructure to meet the needs of the town.

The more people that get involved in the Neighbourhood Plan, the better. There will be a public drop-in stall in the town centre on Saturday, April 30th and another stall being run at the River Festival on Sunday, May 1st. Or come along to the next meeting of the Neighbourhood Plan Group at 7.15pm on 21st April at the Corn Exchange.

Please don’t leave it to someone else, we need as many people involved as we can get! There is also a Frequently Asked Questions section on the Ross Neighbourhood Plan website and this can be found at www.rossneighbourhoodplan.org.uk

Chris Bartrum

Chair, Ross Town Council

Planning Committee