Planning Obligations

The purpose of this information is to explain Eastleigh Borough Council’s approach to Planning Obligations, provide some useful guidance, and to show local facilities that have been delivered or improved as a result of Planning Obligations.

 

 

New development often creates a need for additional infrastructure or improved community services and facilities, without which there could be a detrimental effect on local amenity and the quality of the environment.  Planning Obligations are the mechanism used to secure these measures.

 

Planning obligations are intended to make acceptable development which would otherwise be unacceptable in planning terms.  Planning obligations can:

·        Restrict development or use of land;

·        Require specific operations or activities to be carried out in relation to the land;

·        Require payment of sums of money to help mitigate the impact of the develoment, commuted sums etc; and

·        Require land to be used in a certain way.

 

Planning Obligations are secured pursuant to Section 106 of the 1990 Town and Country Planning Act (as amended) and the Planning & Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and are often private agreements negotiated, usually in the context of planning applications, between the local planning authority and persons with an interest in the land (“Section 106 Agreement").  Planning Obligations can also be given unilaterally to the Council by the persons with an interest in the land (“Unilateral Undertaking”).

 

Planning obligations secured by way of a Section 106 agreement or Unilateral Undertaking are binding on the land and are therefore enforceable against all successors in title. If obligations are purely financial, "up front" payments can be made as an alternative to a legal agreement.

 

There are no hard and fast rules about the size and type of development that should attract planning obligations however under the provisions of the Planning & Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, outlined in more detail in Circular 05/2005, Local Planning Authorities can, in determining planning applications, only secure planning obligations where it can be demonstrated that the obligations are:

 

i.        Necessary (to make a proposal acceptable in planning terms);

ii.       Relevant to planning;

iii.      Directly related to the proposed development;

iv.      Fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the proposed development, and

v.       Reasonable in all other respects.

 

 

 

The Eastleigh Borough Local Plan Review 2001-2011 sets out the role of planning obligations and developers’ contributions in providing resources to achieve the objectives of the Local Plan and to meet, as far as possible, the infrastructure costs arising from development. It is desirable that the provision of facilities keeps pace with need and policy. This approach is supported by Government Guidance in Circular 05/2005 Planning Obligations and best practice guidance from Department for Communities and Local Government and Audit Commission

 

Eastleigh Borough Council also has an adopted Supplementary Planning Document ( SPD ) on Planning Obligations. This document was adopted 10 July 2008.

 

Tariff

In order to provide a predictable and transparent system for applying financial planning obligations Eastleigh Borough Council operates a planning obligations tariff system for the most common planning obligations.  This system aims to allow developers to pre-determine the level of contributions sought from any development by making indicative figures public.  This is not however meant to detract from developers seeking pre-application advice.

 

The developer contribution tariff is based on values at the time of producing the SPD therefore to ensure the contributions maintain their spending capacity all contributions are subject to General Index of Retail Prices maintained by the Department of Trade & Industry or any index maintained by HM Government from their base date to the date of payment.

 

Notification of financial contributions

You will be notified within 5 working days of validation if your application is initially anticipated to require planning obligations.  This first letter will notify you of any associated timescales in which the planning obligations are to be secured however it will not at this early stage of the application confirm the specific details of any required planning obligations.  Your notification letter will be accompanied by a planning obligations leaflet that briefly explains your options for securing any planning obligations.

 

Shortly after the statutory consultation period has expired (21 days after validation) you will be notified in a Second letter of the specific planning obligations being applied to your application.  We require confirmation in writing within 7 days of this Second letter how you intend to secure the required planning obligations.

 

COMING SOON! - If you would like to know an approximate value of the financial planning obligations that may be applied to your application please use the contributions calculator.  Please note that any figures generated are only indicative

 

 

In order to determine applications within the Government’s prescribed periods, the securing of planning obligations and developer contributions cannot be a cause of delay.  Developers are required to ensure that any obligations or contributions applied by the Council are resolved within the statutory time period advised by the Council, usually 8 or 13 weeks from the date the application is made valid.  Failure to do so may result in the application being refused for which lack of provision will form a part of our refusal. 

There are 3 methods for securing planning obligations.  These methods are summarised in the below table which also highlights the main differences between the 3 methods and provides further procedural guidance for each.

 

	Section 106 agreement	Unilateral Undertaking	Up front payment
Has to be completed before 8/13 week deadline	Yes	Yes	Yes
Secures financial planning obligations	Yes	Yes	Yes
Secures non financial planning obligations (i.e affordable housing) and/or any restrictions, stipulations, covenants that are binding on Eastleigh Borough Council	Yes	No	No
Defers payment of financial obligations until prior to commencement of development	Yes	Yes	No
Council Solicitors draft agreement	Yes	No	N/A
Legal Costs	Starting from £1000	Set fee of £350	£0
Administration and Monitoring Fee	£1400	£260	£45

 

 

The Council employ dedicated staff who not only assist with negotiations and the securing of planning obligations but also monitor agreements to ensure compliance by all parties with any obligations, covenants, restrictions, and stipulations contained within any agreement.

 

Planning obligations secured by way of a Section 106 agreement or Unilateral Undertaking are binding on the land and are therefore enforceable against all successors in title.  The land charge will remain active until all of the planning obligations have been satisfied or the planning permission for which the Section 106 agreement or Unilateral Undertaking relates expires.

 

Financial Planning obligations are often received on an “unallocated” basis therefore the Council will invest these monies in local schemes either identified by the Local Area Coordination team, within the Local Plan or the Councils CIP strategy.

      Talking Books

 

 

All financial contributions are monitored closely to ensure their spending is wholly in accordance with the terms set out within the agreement and that allocations of contributions are appropriate and in accordance with the tests set out in Circular 05/2005

 

Through its monitoring processes the Council is confident that it can provide a

full audit trail of spending should any developer require evidence of spending.

 

 

Planning Obligations deliver local improvements

Planning obligations have delivered a whole host of public facilities, services and improvements.  Pictures of a few examples can be seen throughout these planning obligations pages;