Agenda item

Briefing note and presentation of the Head of Planning, Policy and Environment

Councillor Welsh, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities has been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item

The Board considered a briefing note and received a presentation of the Head of Planning, Policy and Environment which gave an overview of Section 106 agreements and the processes that were involved in drawing them up. Councillor Welsh, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities attended the meeting for the consideration of this item.

The briefing note indicated that a Section 106 agreement was a legally binding document agreed between the Local Planning Authority (LPA) and the applicant (and also landowners if separate to the applicant), related to planning applications in the city. The purpose of the agreement was to agree matters that were required to mitigate the impact of the planning application and could include transfers of land and/or money. There were strict rules that set out the threshold requests must meet in order for them to be included in a Section 106 agreement. These were laid out in Regulation 122 of the CIL Regulations 2010, and stated that all requests must be;

a) necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms

b) directly related to the development; and

c) fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development.

The briefing note highlighted the normal process for the development of a Section 106 agreement as follows:

1. Application received, and consultations issued to statutory bodies (such as NHS, Historic England, etc) and internal departments (such as Highways, Housing, etc).

2. Relevant consultees make their responses and, where necessary make Regulation 122-compliant requests (e.g., NHS contributions or on-site Affordable Housing), explaining what the impact of the application is, and why the request is appropriate.

3. The Planning Case officer consolidates requests and, with Legal Services, begins to draft Section 106 Agreement.

4. Section 106 negotiated, agreed, signed and sealed.

It was common for an application that was going before Planning Committee to have details of the agreed elements of the Section 106 in the officer report but with some negotiation outstanding.

The Committee were informed that recent work by the Planning Policy team had focussed on introducing more standardisation in the drafting of these agreements. Recently consulted upon Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) – Affordable Housing and Open Spaces in particular - had included template agreements in their appendices to ensure that the Council’s position was clear from the outset.

Once an application had been determined and the Section 106 agreement signed it was passed to the Planning Policy team who monitored the agreement and ensured that the contributions within it were claimed appropriately. This involves separating each clause into a monitorable activity, noting the various triggers and then invoicing at the correct times. Further information was provided on this monitoring process which included regular site visits by the monitoring officer to check on progress.

Once received, Section 106 monies must be spent within five years of receipt (unless specifically stated otherwise) and must only be spent on the specific purposes expressed in the Section 106. Upon receipt, money was nominally allocated to the relevant project but retained in a centralised budget code. This could then only be ‘drawn down’ by the project lead with the release form which confirmed the nature of the spend and that it matched the purposes expressed in the Section 106 clause. The Committee noted that, in the event of a non-compliant spend, or if sums were not spent within the allocated time window, it was possible for developers to reclaim said monies from the Council, including interest.

The briefing note set out the financial details of Section 106 agreements for 2020/21, with the total value of agreements entered into being £3,499,877.75.

Additional information was provided on the further improvements being made to the Section 106 system which included further template agreements arising from future Supplementary Planning Documents and procuring a dedicated Section 106 system which would simplify the recording and monitoring of clauses as well as providing reports.

The presentation provided an understanding of Section 106 agreements; reported on the current focus on Section 106; set out Supplementary Planning Document examples; and informed of the future focus of Section 106s.

Councillor Welsh, Cabinet Member, reported on him recommendation that all Councillors become more involved with Section 106s whereby Members would be notified of potential Section 106 applications in their Ward via the weekly planning list. Members would have the opportunity to comment on 106 applications in their Wards prior to any decisions being taken.

Members questioned the officer and Cabinet Member on a number of issues and responses were provided, matters raised included:

·  Support for the recommendation put for by Councillor Welsh and the benefits that Councillors’ local knowledge could bring to the Section 106 process

·  The importance of all Councillors having a good understanding of Section 106s, suggesting that the presentation slides be circulated to all members and a briefing session be arranged

·  Further details about the requirements for Section 106 requests including an explanation of fair and reasonable

·  Additional information about the measures in place to ensure that funding is spent within the allocated timeframe

·  Clarification about the nhs contributions and concerns about the lack of GP surgeries in the city, how could Section 106 agreements help this situation (the need for new gp surgeries to be located within large housing developments)

The Committee were informed that any decisions relating to new GP surgeries was a matter for Coventry and Warwickshire CCG and Councillor Welsh agreed to look at this issue

·  The importance of green space for local communities

·  What would happen to the Section 106 requirements if a developer went bust part way through a development

·  Were there any projects with Section 106 agreements that were delayed due to Covid

RESOLVED that:

(1) The principles of how a Section 106 agreement works and the work undertaken on this matter be noted.

(2) The presentation slides be circulated to all Councillors for their information.

(3) A briefing session for all Members on Section 106 Agreements be arranged for early in the new municipal year.

(4) The Board supports the recommendation of the Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, Councillor Welsh, that Members be notified of potential Section 106 applications via the weekly planning list with Members having the opportunity to comment on 106 applications in their Wards prior to any decisions being taken.

(5) Councillor Welsh, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, to liaise with other Cabinet Members and engage with the CCG regarding the position of new GP practices for the City, with particular reference to new planning developments.