Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of Business in Sport and Leisure (BISL), has called for the sports sector to be exempted from the forthcoming Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).

Writing in her column in the latest Leisure Management magazine, Simmonds expressed her concerns over the new legislation, which is due to replace the Planning Gain Supplement when the government’s Planning Reform Bill becomes law later this year.

The CIL will be a development tax based on a tariff set by the local authority. According to Simmonds, most leisure projects would be liable for CIL.

She said. “As sport tends to be non-profit making, the question must be whether it should pay anything at all.

“As an industry we need to press for an exemption for sport and to ensure local authorities use some of the funding collected from CIL for sport.”

“For many years, sport has benefited from Section 106 Agreements, which developers sign with the local authority, providing the community with infrastructure or help in kind.”

For the full column, see (Leisure Management March/April 2008, p.52.