I am writing to request information held by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead ("the Council") in connection with the Five Year Housing Land Supply Position Statement dated July 2025 ("the Position Statement") and the Council's continuing duty under paragraph 78 of the National Planning Policy Framework to maintain an up-to-date supply of deliverable housing sites. The information requested below is reasonably necessary to test the accuracy of the supply assessment and to understand the evidential basis on which the Council asserts that particular permissions are deliverable within the five-year period.
Preliminary notes
The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is the most legally hard-edged record the Council holds of when a chargeable development has actually commenced. Under regulation 67 of the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/948) (as amended), the person liable to pay CIL must submit a Commencement Notice (CIL Form 6) to the collecting authority no later than the day before the intended commencement date. Under regulation 83, failure to submit a Commencement Notice before commencement attracts a surcharge equal to 20% of the chargeable amount or £2,500, whichever is the lower.
The Council is the Collecting Authority for CIL in respect of development in its area, and is required by regulations 8(5) and 35 of the CIL Regulations 2010 to maintain records of all liability notices issued and commencement notices received. Information about CIL receipts and liabilities is required to be made publicly available through the Council's Infrastructure Funding Statement under regulation 121A.
CIL Commencement Notice records are uniquely valuable for testing the deliverability of housing sites because: (i) they reference the underlying planning permission directly; (ii) they are subject to a statutory financial penalty for non-compliance; and (iii) they relate to a single precisely-defined regulatory event (commencement of chargeable development).
A site allocated within the Council's five-year housing land supply at base date 1 April 2024, on which no CIL Commencement Notice has been served by the date of the Position Statement, cannot reasonably be classified as "under construction" or otherwise as a deliverable site for the purposes of the five-year supply unless there is a clear non-CIL explanation (e.g. the permission pre-dates the Council's CIL Charging Schedule).
Information requested
Question 1. Council CIL Commencement Notice register
Please provide a list of all CIL Commencement Notices received by the Council from 1 January 2016 to the date of this response, in respect of any chargeable development comprising one or more dwellings. For each entry, please provide:
(a) The planning application reference of the underlying permission.
(b) The address of the chargeable development.
(c) The date the CIL Liability Notice was issued by the Council (under regulation 65).
(d) The amount of CIL chargeable.
(e) The date the Commencement Notice was received by the Council.
(f) The stated intended commencement date.
(g) Whether the Council has subsequently exercised its power under regulation 68 to specify a different deemed commencement date, and if so what date.
Question 2. Reconciliation with the Position Statement
For each site listed in Appendix 1.1 of the Position Statement, please confirm:
(a) Whether the development is chargeable under the Council's CIL Charging Schedule (operative from 31 March 2016).
(b) Where chargeable, the date on which the Council issued the CIL Liability Notice and the date on which the CIL Commencement Notice was received.
(c) Where the development is not chargeable, the basis for that conclusion (e.g. permission pre-dates the Charging Schedule; development qualifies for a charitable or self-build relief; etc.).
(d) Where the development is chargeable but no CIL Commencement Notice has been received, the steps the Council has taken to satisfy itself that the site is properly classified as "under construction" or otherwise deliverable within the Position Statement.
Question 3. Surcharges and enforcement
(a) Please provide a list of all CIL surcharges issued under regulation 83 since 1 January 2016, identifying the underlying planning application reference, the address, the date of the surcharge, and the amount.
(b) Please confirm whether the Council has issued any CIL stop notices under regulation 88 and, if so, the details of each.
(c) Please provide copies of the Council's Infrastructure Funding Statements published under regulation 121A for each financial year from 2019/20 to date.
Question 4. CIL records and the housing trajectory
(a) Please confirm whether and how the Council uses the CIL Commencement Notice register when compiling Appendix 1.1 of the Position Statement, and any internal guidance or methodology document that records that approach.
(b) Please confirm whether the Council has, during the preparation of the July 2025 Position Statement, undertaken any cross-check of Appendix 1.1 sites against the CIL Commencement Notice register, and if so please provide a copy of the working document evidencing that exercise.
(c) Where any site in Appendix 1.1 is asserted to be "under construction" but no CIL Commencement Notice has been received by the Council, please identify the evidence on which the Council relied to make that classification.
Specific sites — supplementary information
The following sites are of particular relevance to the matters set out above. The questions in respect of each site are in addition to, and not in substitution for, the general questions set out earlier in this request.
Site A. Spiritualist Church, Mariners House / land off Vansittart Road (20/03149/OUT — allocated site AL4, 49 dwellings)
Planning permission was granted on 21 July 2022. The site is included in the Council's five-year land supply.
(a) Please confirm whether a CIL Liability Notice has been issued in respect of this permission and, if so, the date and the amount.
(b) Please confirm whether a CIL Commencement Notice has been received and, if so, the date received and the stated commencement date.
(c) If no CIL Commencement Notice has been received, please identify the evidence relied upon by the Council in classifying this site as a deliverable site within the meaning of NPPF paragraph 78.
Site B. St John Ambulance, York Road, Maidenhead (19/01276/OUT)
Planning permission was granted on 18 February 2020.
(a) Please confirm whether a CIL Liability Notice has been issued in respect of this permission and, if so, the date and the amount.
(b) Please confirm whether a CIL Commencement Notice has been received and, if so, the date received and the stated commencement date.
Site C. Berkshire College of Agriculture, Burchetts Green Road, Burchetts Green (20/01779/OUT)
Planning permission was granted on 17 April 2023.
(a) Please confirm whether a CIL Liability Notice has been issued in respect of this permission and, if so, the date and the amount.
(b) Please confirm whether a CIL Commencement Notice has been received and, if so, the date received and the stated commencement date.
(c) Please provide the gross dwelling capacity attributed to this site within the Council's five-year housing land supply.
Site D. Land to the rear of 45–63 London Road, Datchet (22/02737/FULL — allocated site AL39)
Planning permission was granted on 23 May 2024.
(a) Please confirm whether a CIL Liability Notice has been issued in respect of this permission and, if so, the date and the amount.
(b) Please confirm whether a CIL Commencement Notice has been received and, if so, the date received and the stated commencement date.
Site E. Chatsworth House, 29 Broadway, Maidenhead (23/02071/CLAMA)
Prior approval under Class MA was granted on 9 October 2023. The Council has been notified of one Initial Notice in respect of this site in December 2024 but no completion records are evident.
(a) Please confirm whether the development is chargeable under the Council's CIL Charging Schedule. Where Class MA conversions are not chargeable, please confirm.
(b) Please confirm whether a CIL Commencement Notice has been received in respect of this permission and, if so, the date received and the stated commencement date.
(c) Please provide the date of any Building Control Initial Notice in respect of this site, the identity of the Approved Inspector, and the current status of construction works as understood by the Council.
Site F. Maidenhead Golf Course area, Shoppenhangers Road / land north of Manor Lane (24/00091/OUT — allocated site AL13, CALA Homes promoted)
This site is the largest single allocation in the Council's land supply and represents a substantial portion of forecast delivery within the five-year supply period.
(a) Please confirm whether a CIL Liability Notice has been issued in respect of this permission and, if so, the date and the amount.
(b) Please confirm whether a CIL Commencement Notice has been received and, if so, the date received and the stated commencement date.
(c) Please provide the gross and net dwelling capacity attributed to this site within the Council's five-year housing land supply, with year-by-year anticipated completions.
(d) Please confirm the date of any pre-commencement Building Control activity in respect of this site (Initial Notices and any Approved Inspector engagement).
Site G. Lower Mount Farm, Long Lane, Cookham (23/02019/OUT and 23/02022/OUT — allocated site AL37)
Planning permissions were granted on 17 November 2025.
(a) Please confirm whether a CIL Liability Notice has been issued in respect of either permission and, if so, the date and the amount.
(b) Please confirm whether a CIL Commencement Notice has been received in respect of either permission and, if so, the date received and the stated commencement date.
Format of response
I would be grateful if the response to Questions 1 and 2 is provided in a single spreadsheet (Microsoft Excel or CSV format), with one row per CIL Liability Notice or planning permission as applicable. For Question 3 and Question 4, narrative or copy-document responses are appropriate. The supplementary site-specific information at Sites A to G should be answered in narrative form or appended to the spreadsheet at the Council's convenience.
Statutory framework and duty to advise and assist
This request is made under both the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. Information relating to the use of land, the implementation of planning permissions, and the council's plans, policies and programmes affecting the environment falls within the definition of environmental information at regulation 2(1) of the EIR 2004 and should be considered under that framework where applicable.
The Council is reminded of its duty under section 16 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and regulation 9 of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 to provide advice and assistance. If the Council considers that any aspect of this request is unclear, or that any part of the request would exceed the appropriate limit under section 12 of the Act or regulation 12(4)(b) of the Regulations, please contact me before issuing a refusal notice so that the request can be refined.
If the Council intends to rely on a public interest test under regulation 12 of the EIR 2004 or section 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I draw attention to the substantial public interest in transparency about the deliverability of housing sites at a time when the Council's own published position is one of a five-year housing land supply below the policy threshold. The information requested is held in the discharge of the Council's statutory planning functions and the disclosure of that information serves the proper operation of the planning system.
Where any part of the request cannot be answered within the statutory deadline, I would be grateful if the Council would answer the remaining parts within that deadline and respond on the balance as soon as practicable thereafter.