PAPER C

 

 

Committee :    DEVELOPMENT CONTROL SUB COMMITTEE

 

Date :              19 DECEMBER 2006

 

Title :               COMPLETED AND OUTSTANDING SECTION 106 OBLIGATIONS UPDATE

 

REPORT OF THE DEVELOPMENT TEAM MANAGER

 

 

1.          PURPOSE

 

1.1            To advise Members of the current situation in respect of Section 106 obligations in the year ending November 2006, and to outline proposals for the improvement of the 106 and planning gain process.

 

2.          INTRODUCTION

 

2.1            This report updates the information on 106 obligations with respect to financial contributions made or are expected.  Section 106 agreements are derived from powers in the Planning Acts and by the ODPM Circular 05/2005 “Planning Obligations”.  They can be entered into by way of either a multilateral agreement signed by all parties, including the Local Planning Authority, or as a unilateral undertaking offered by the applicant to the Local Planning Authority.  Although a material consideration there is no duty on a Local Planning Authority to accept a unilateral undertaking if it does not cover adequately and robustly those matters which the Authority would otherwise include in a multilateral agreement.

 

2.2            Members were last updated on the 106 contributions in November 2005 when the then interim Development Control Manager reported on all the financial contributions that had been received to date from mid 1999 to September 2005.  At that time a total of £893,000 had been received for the period 1999 to September 2005 to cover contributions towards highways, housing, education, community facilities, public art, parks, play areas and countryside.  Possible future receipts of £709,000 covering the same areas were identified.  This reflected contributions that were sought from outstanding 106 agreements that had yet to be received as a consequence of either particular phases of development not being attained or the non-commencement of schemes.

 

3.        CURRENT SECTION 106 SITUATION

 

3.1            The following table sets out the total financial contributions received to date split between various service areas and the possible future receipts from signed legal agreements.  The uncertainty of future receipts reflects the situation where legal agreements may have been signed but that the planning permission has yet to be commenced.  As such the receipts are not a certainty.  Where schemes have commenced the Local Planning Authority will seek to ensure that financial contributions are paid where they are required by an activated legal agreement.  The table does not take into account potential legal agreements that have been sought by planning condition attached to planning permissions.  These may or may not be entered into depending on whether the permissions are commenced.  The updated 106 contributions are as follows (covering the period from mid 1999 to end of November 2006):-

 

106 Contributions Update – Mid 1999 to November 2006

 

 

Received to Date

Possible Future Receipts

 

Highways

 

£520,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

£257,550

 

 

 

 

 

 

Housing

£721,000

 

£595,500

 

 

Education

 

£156,725

 

£281,440

 

Community

 

£  27,000

 

Nil   

 

Public Art

 

£  26,000

 

Nil

 

Parks/Play/Countryside

 

£  61,580

 

£81,090

 

Totals

 

£1,512,305

 

£1,215,580

 

 

3.2            Members will note that the current total receipts amount to over 1½ million pounds.  This reflects a receipt this year of in excess of £600,000.  With regard to possible future receipts from instigated legal agreements this has gone up from £709,000 to £1,215,000 over the past twelve months.

 

3.3            The possible future receipts exclude the recently determined applications for the East Cowes regeneration project and Kingston.  Contributions for each will be considerable, but it would be premature to outline potential receipts as part of this report prior to the finalising and signing of the respective 106 agreements.

 

4                    PREVIOUSLY SIGNED LEGAL AGREEMENTS WITHOUT FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS

 

4.1            Non-financial obligations can cover matters as diverse as occupancy restrictions, non-subdivision of land, provision of travel plans, establishment of management companies and management schemes.  As such they can prescribe the nature of the development to achieve a planning purpose, mitigate the impact of a development or compensate for loss or damage caused by the development.  Non-financial contributions for infrastructure provision are therefore difficult to quantify for the purposes of this report.  However, officers are considering how to measure non-financial benefit from development and will report in due course on non-financial benefits to the community derived from legal agreements.

 

5.        IMPROVEMENT TO THE COUNCIL’S 106 PROCEDURES

 

5.1            Since mid 1999 the Council’s performance in signing Section 106 agreements and receiving contributions has improved as reflected in the above table.  However, there is a continued need to improve effectiveness of securing developer contributions and to review the basis upon which such contributions are negotiated.  A new Section 106 Officer post has been created within the Planning Service.  The post is shortly to be filled with the officer taking up position at the beginning of February 2007. 

 

5.2            The role of the Section 106 Officer is to put in place an improved and robust monitoring system to ensure that developers who have entered into a legal agreement are paying correct contributions in accordance with agreed phasing schemes.  The Officer will also have responsibility for negotiating with developers the level and type of contributions.  These contributions need to reflect priorities of both the site and the likely impacts caused by the scheme itself.  The Officer will also have responsibility for reviewing the guidance upon which 106 agreements are negotiated. 

 

5.3            It is intended that new guidance that will eventually become a supplementary planning document to the new Island Plan will be produced and published for consultation in the New Year.  The guidance will be based on Circular 05/2005 which sets the tests the application of financial contributions.  These tests require that obligations must be:-

 

§                      necessary from a planning point of view;

§                      directly related to the proposed development;

§                      fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the proposed development; and

§                      reasonable in all other respects.

 

5.4            The review of the Council’s guidance on 106 agreements and developer contributions will re-assess the priorities for planning gain on the Island.  It will also provide a robust framework for negotiation that justifies infrastructure and community facility provision on a site-by-site basis for major planning applications.

 

5.5            It is intended that Officers will report to the Development Control Sub Committee quarterly with the next report on update of Section 106 obligations to be put before Members in April 2007.

 

6.                CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

 

6.1            That Members note the report and endorse the proposals as set out.

 

 

Background Papers – Individual Officer reports (whether delegated or to DCSC on each application or obligation).

 

 

Contact Point :            Phil Salmon, Development Team Manager         Tel:  01983 823552

E-mail:  [email protected]