Christine James

01530 454689

Christine.james@nwleicestershire.gov.uk

www.nwleics.gov.uk

Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990

What are Section 106 Agreements?

• Planning obligations

• Planning agreements

• Section 106 agreements

• Planning gain

WHY DO WE NEED PLANNING OBLIGATIONS?

New development can place a burden on existing resources:

• schools• libraries• medical centres• leisure and community facilities• the environment and transport infrastructure

MITIGATION

Section 106 T&CPA 1990 allows local authorities to require developers or any other person interested in land to enter into obligations when seeking planning permission to address these issues

What are they used for ?

• Operations or activities

• Land to be used in a specified way

• Payments either as a single sum or periodically

District Council Requirements

• National Forest Planting - Housing developments (District Council)

• Over 0.5 ha - 20% of site to be woodland planting and landscaping; either on-site or near to the development

Affordable Housing

• Site thresholdsSites of 15 or more dwellings.

• Targets40% affordable housing outside of the greater Coalville area and 30% in the greater Coalville area.

• TenureAn appropriate mix of tenure types

A copy of Affordable Housing SPD can be found in full on the Council’s web site www.nwleicestershire.gov.uk

Local Leisure Facilities & Children’s Play Area Provision

• £1,100 per dwelling to enhance local leisure facilities

• Provision of children’s play area, (Policy L21

& L22 of the North West Leicestershire Local Plan)

Supplementary Planning Guidance note on play area provision provides advice on this matter (see Council’s website - www.nwleicestershire.gov.uk).

Leicester, Leics and Rutland Facilities Consortium (NHS)

Health Care Provision

• 1-2 Bedroom Dwelling - £583. each dwelling

• 3-4 Bedroom Dwelling - £1,167. each dwelling

• 5 Bedroom Dwelling - £1,750. each dwelling

• Student dwelling - £219. each dwelling

County Council Requirements

Education

Highway Authority

Civic Amenity Site Infrastructure

.

Libraries

• 1 bedroomed houses @ £27.18 per house• 2 bedroomed houses @ £54.35 per house• 3/4/5 bedroomed houses @ £63.41 per house

• 1 bedroomed apartments @ £27.18 per apartment

• 2 bedroomed apartments @ £54.35 per apartment

• 3/4/5 bedroomed apartments @ £63.41 per apartment

What else can be required?

• Affordable housing• Affordable business use• Flood defence• Highway, transport and

travel schemes• Recreation• Community Centres• Recycling• Crime and Disorder

prevention

• Employment and Training• Archaeology and

conservation• Education• Open spaces• Libraries• Healthcare• Fire and Rescue• Town Centre

Improvements• Environmental

Improvements

Planning Permission cannot be bought or sold!!!!

“Despite the fundamental principle that planning permissions can not be sold or bought it sometimes seems that the UK is close to

selling planning permissions”

The Act and Circular 05/2005

Relevant to planning

Necessary to make the proposed development acceptable in planning terms

Directly related to the proposed development;

Fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the proposed development

and

Reasonable in all other respects.

Evidence

• What is the impact of this development on facilities?

• How is it relevant to planning?

• Why is it necessary to make the proposed development acceptable in planning terms?

• How is it directly related to the proposed development?

Evidence

• Show it is fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the proposed development

AND

• Be prepared to explain how it is reasonable in all other respects

SPEND THE MONEY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PLANNING OBLIGATION WITHIN THE TIME LIMIT

ENSURE THERE IS AN AUDIT TRAIL

30%of Councils have paid money back to developers

because it has not been spent appropriately!

Monitoring and enforcing s106 agreements

• Deal or no deal? Applies to all partiesof the contract!

• Only the Planning Authority can enforce

• Can’t pay – won’t pay!!!! - Viability study

The future

Community Infrastructure Levy

Not mandatory – will work side by side with s106 agreements.

Section 106 agreements to be retained but will be scaled back

Benefits……

• Legal certainty• Enable mitigation of cumulative• Impacts/pooled contributions• Transparency• Support development of an area• rather than just one development

Opportunities????

• LA will need to set out the quantum and type of development anticipated

• The LA will need to make an assessment of the infrastructure that will be required.

• It will need to estimate how much CIL is likely to be collected.

• There must be an up to date adopted development strategy

The Election

• Conservatives have already published their ‘Green Paper’ on Planning –

if they win the general election.

• They will abandon CIL and introduce a ‘Tariff’ system.

Scenario 1

“The Council was so keen for this development to go ahead that they overlooked the conservation group. The conservation group felt they had been railroaded. Planning should be squeaky clean but it isn’t always”

Scenario 2

• Planning officer ignored

• Missed by the audit commissioner!!!

• Loss to the community.

Scenario 3

• The agreement required that the Council to hold the money for a particular purpose - A ‘Trust’ was formed.

• The developers remained the owners of the money until it was spent on the highway improvements within the time specified – the money had to be returned to the developer

(Patel v Brent 2005)

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING

Christine James

Principal Planning Officer

Tel 01530 454689Christine.james@nwleicestershire.gov.uk