12:32PM, Tuesday 20 January 2026
Stock image of Maidenhead High Street
The lack of developer contributions to fund infrastructure improvements in Maidenhead town centre is ‘painful’, a Maidenhead forum meeting heard.
The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is a charge local authorities can apply to developments to fund improvements in the surrounding area, including public transport schemes, schools, and park upgrades.
But while CIL is applied across the Royal Borough, the levy for Maidenhead town centre projects is set at zero.
A 2015 CIL review, conducted under the previous Conservative administration, found Maidenhead town centre was ‘unviable’ for CIL, so no levy is collected from developments in the area.
Funding is still sourced from other schemes across the borough.
At a Maidenhead Town Forum meeting on Thursday (January 15), Councillor Gurch Singh (Lib Dem, St Mary’s) said the lack of a town centre levy for Maidenhead is ‘painful’.
Cllr Singh said: “We are where we are with CIL. CIL [for] Maidenhead is obviously still zero rated.
“It’s painful, but we understand [that if] we expanded it, the way the [CIL] formula works, we’ll end up losing money.”
Chris Joyce, the council’s assistant director of placemaking partnerships and sustainability, said there is £350,000 in the CIL pot for Maidenhead.
Mr Joyce said: “We are recommending that that [money] be allocated to the capital programme for next year to fund improvements to play parks within Maidenhead.
“We want to have more conversations with the forum meetings to identity infrastructure investment priorities for Maidenhead and look at how we can utilise neighbourhood CIL to bring that forward.”
He asked councillors if there were any other priority areas the money could be directed towards.
Cllr Helen Taylor (Ind, Oldfield) suggested more benches could be put up around Maidenhead High Street to help older residents and those with mobility issues.
Cllr Singh wanted to know if more money will be coming in from developments currently underway in the borough.
Mr Joyce said that as South West Maidenhead schemes come forward, such as the golf course development, more money will go towards the CIL pot.
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