Decision details

(1)  To adopt the amended draft Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) (attached as appendix 1 to the report).

(2)  To delegate authority to the Head of Planning to make any necessary minor editorial changes, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Licensing, prior to publication of the adoption of the Planning Obligations SPD.

(3)  To delegate authority to the Head of Planning to remove text in the SPD which will be superseded on the adoption of the Local Plan Partial Update (LPPU).  The text in question will make clear that the planning obligations which relate to LPPU policies SCR6, SCR7 relating to carbon offsetting requirements, NE3A Biodiversity Net Gain and updated policy H7 as concerning housing accessibility standards in Affordable Housing, will only be applied to applications determined on or after the date of the adoption of the LPPU.

The SPD is proposed for a number of reasons and key amendments are:

(1)  The introduction sections have been amended to reflect the updated CIL Regulations.  The CIL Regulations 2010 (as amended) were amended in 2019 to remove section 106 pooling restrictions and to enable more flexibility in funding infrastructure.

(2)  The revised SPD reflects the fixed fee for the monitoring of s106 agreements which was implemented by the council in December 2020.

(3)  The SPD has been reviewed against and helps to deliver the policies in the Local Plan Partial Update (LPPU).  This includes new policies on Biodiversity Net Gain and Carbon Offsetting, having regard to the Climate and Ecological Emergency, and updated policies on housing accessibility standards in affordable housing, and sustainable transport measures.

(4)  The SPD amendments reflect changes nationally, and locally, to the implementation of affordable housing which require non-material detailed changes to the Affordable Housing chapter.

(5)  There are changes required to the education facilities chapter to incorporate up to date costs for new build whole primary schools and extensions.  There is also a need to incorporate the costs of secondary school places as large developments may have an impact on secondary schools that need mitigating via s106 to make development acceptable in planning terms subject to the s106 tests.  The contribution sought from developers will be used to mitigate the direct impact of the development and not to address any existing shortfall.

(6)  There are changes to the Targeted Training and Recruitment section to clarify that these planning obligations will be secured from extra care/care homes (C2 use) and purpose-built student accommodation in addition to general residential development (C3 use) and commercial development.

(7)  There are various other minor changes to the SPD including to the tree planting section, and incorporating indexed greenspace costs based on the Green Space Strategy open space requirements.

There is no other legislative mechanism to make SPDs and to not adopt the SPD will leave standing policy requirements absent of additional detail.  The SPD mainly provides guidance on development plan policy requirements and national policy and does not create policy.