TWO Hagley councillors are celebrating as the village is to benefit once again from the latest New Homes Bonus funding allocations.

Bromsgrove District Council has agreed to make £74,000 available for community groups across the district, under the national New Homes Bonus Scheme, out of the total £1.6million in NHB that the authority will receive from central government in 2019.

Now Bromsgrove councillors Steve Colella (Hagley West) and Rachel Jenkins (Hagley East) are hoping for more successful bids for Hagley projects when the 2019 scheme opens later in the year.

The NHB scheme was introduced nationally in 2011 and meant central government would pay local authorities a bonus payment when new homes were built in the council's area with the aim being to pass on some of the money to community groups to improve facilities in areas affected by new housing.

For the first four years of the scheme Tory controlled Bromsgrove District Council voted to retain all the money in its central budget but after a 1,429-name district-wide petition was gathered by Hagley Residents Action Group in 2014 asking them to pass some of the NHB onto local communities, the council changed its policy and since then some £450,000 has been made available across the district, out of just over £10million in NHB that the council received from central government since the scheme began.

To date, Hagley has received more than £92,000 of NHB money for seven different improvement projects in the village.

Cllr Colella said: "It's great news that for the fifth successive year there is NHB money available across the district for community projects.

"The scheme is repeatedly oversubscribed, with bids for money for improving local facilities far exceeding the amount of money made available each year, thus proving how successful the scheme.

"At a recent meeting of full council, numerous councillors mentioned how keen they were for this scheme to continue.

"I am always keen as a local councillor to support any project which applies for this funding, which I have often done in the past.

"I would encourage communities across the district to bid for a share of the £74,000 available in 2019 when the bidding process opens later in the year."