The Government’s aim to create sustainable communities would be undermined by excluding items ‘usually necessary for developments to take place’ from section 106 agreements, planning officers fear.
The Planning Officers Society has warned that limiting the scope of section 106 agreements with a new, tightly defined criteria-based approach, combined with the ‘unclear’ method for distributing planning gain supplement (PGS) funds, would create ‘considerable uncertainty’ for planners.The worse case scenario could involve no new funding being secured through the PGS process towards a locally needed scheme, and the option of using section 106 being no longer available.
Transport and highway improvements – including to the wider network – need to be included in the scope of section 106, the Planning Officers Society argues, otherwise planning committees will not know whether or not all the necessary infrastructure that a development needs will be provided.
The County Surveyors’ Society also had a sceptical tone in its response to the consultation.
Huw Jones, of the CSS strategic planning and regeneration committee, said: ‘We tried to work with the PGS idea, but it’s been a long time, and there’s still no proposal for implementation around worth its salt. To still be talking about concepts now is disappointing.’
He sensed that the Government was uncertain about the proposal, in that the door was left open to including off-site roads improvements in section 106.
‘We welcome the possibility of looking at infrastructure needs in a more strategic way, but are saying “let’s go that little bit further” and pool planning obligations across a county or sub-region, spending the money in a transparent way,’ said Jones.
Counties or sub-regions would produce ‘infrastructure frameworks’ to guide expenditure – preferable, he argued, ‘to leaving the planning of sustainable communities to local planning authorities,’ because counties provide roads, schools and waste facilities.

For more on the PGS, see http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/professionals/en/1115313579044.html

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