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Agenda item

Section 106 Agreements

Discussion with Head of Service – Planning on how Section 106 Agreements work within the Authority

Minutes:

The Committee welcomed Richard Purcell, Head of Planning, to discuss Section 106 Agreements.

 

The officer stated that Section 106 Agreements were legally binding agreements attached to planning permissions, usually to achieve financial contributions that could not be achieved through planning agreements. Members noted that they needed to satisfy 3 tests;

 

1.            That it was necessary to make an agreement acceptable in planning terms.

2.            That it was directly related.

3.            That it was fairly and reasonably related in scale and size to the development.

             

The Head of Planning informed the Committee that developers often subsidised some of their housing stock to sell to registered providers of social housing, so that there was provisions for affordable housing. Members noted that there was no set formula for this, nor for Section 106 Agreements in general, but that they were looked at on a case-by-case basis. The officer agreed to provide the Overview and Scrutiny Manager with further figures and overheads that outlined the provisions for social housing, so it could be presented to the Committee.

 

Members noted some examples of how Section 106 Agreements had been used, such as to provide additional funding to local schools to mitigate the expense of a large influx of pupils, or for offsite work to highways and junctions to improve traffic flow. It was stated that it was up to the local planning authority to determine what resources went where. The officer explained that viability assessors undertook a viability appraisal with developers to determine how much they could contribute towards an agreement, as some were not be able to afford the full cost.

 

The Committee discussed the investment from Section 106 Agreements in their own wards, and whether those agreements were subject to public scrutiny, as well as circumstances where there was non-compliance with the agreement. The Head of Planning informed Members that if there was non-compliance with the agreement, then the developers would have broken a legally binding contract, and it would therefore go back to Planning Committee for reconsideration. Members noted that if developers wished to alter the agreement due to a change in circumstances, they would need to seek a formal agreement with the planning authority.  It was stated that Section 106 Agreements were sent to Planning Committee every six months, and the Joint Head of Planning agreed to provide the Committee with a copy of previous reports.

 

The Committee heard that the agreements had trigger points as to when certain payments needed to be paid, and if the money provided had not been spent within five years, it was returned to the developer. The officer explained that there was also various review mechanisms in the agreement that would take into account factors such as inflation and house prices so that contributions were reviewed.

 

Members discussed the practicalities in relation to all District and Parish Councillors being given future Section 106 Agreement reports, as they felt that there was a lack of awareness and knowledge that surrounded those agreements. The Committee agreed that it was especially important that Parish Councils understood the agreements, so that the resources provided could be used to improve local facilities.

 

Members thanked the officer for attending the meeting.

 

The officer then left the meeting.

 

Councillor S Clough then left the meeting.

 

RESOLVED – that the update be noted.