Project location and organisations to contact
In many parts the Borough, the neighbourhood portion of CIL is simply directly transferred to the town or parish council (where they exist and have had qualifying development within their area paying CIL).
In these locations, funding options should be raised with the relevant Parish/Town.
Within Ebbsfleet Garden City, the Development Corporation is currently the best contact concerning local infrastructure projects, although it should be noted that a funding pot has not necessarily been created. (Infrastructure there has generally been funded through section 106 legal agreements, prior to the introduction of CIL).
In other locations (see figure 1) any neighbourhood CIL funding needs to accord with formal arrangements agreed by the Borough Council. Updated governance arrangements covering the unparished areas of the Borough were approved by Cabinet on May 24, 2025:
- In the unparished area (north/west of the Borough including Dartford town centre) the first consideration should be the Kent Community Foundation who help administer the Dartford Borough Council Community Infrastructure Fund. This is the preferential channel of support in the unparished area, and the quickest way to get a funding decision, and should be fully explored.
- If it has been determined for a suitable project in this area that funding from Dartford Borough Council Community Infrastructure Fund is unavailable, then as a secondary option the expression of interest form can be requested from cil.planning@dartford.gov.uk. On receipt of a submitted form proposals will need to be reviewed, discussed and assessed. If recommended to proceed sufficient time allowance is necessary: it will then require a report to, and the agreement of, Dartford Borough Council’s Cabinet