Development needs to be supported by the facilities and physical and natural structures that enable day to day life.
Infrastructure includes:
- Physical structures/facilities such as roads, schools, health care facilities, community facilities, libraries, stations
- Green infrastructure (e.g. open spaces such as parks and gardens, allotments, woodlands, fields, hedges, lakes, ponds, playing fields, as well as footpaths, cycleways or rivers. Assets involving water can also be called ‘blue infrastructure’, but these are all included in the overarching term of ‘green infrastructure’)
- Digital infrastructure
For the purposes of the Local Plan, studies consider existing infrastructure, and what additional infrastructure is needed to support proposed development.
Infrastructure is also provided by the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) fund. This is monitored in the Monitoring Report and reported in the Infrastructure Funding Statement.