Practice
2.1 It is important that the negotiation of planning obligations does not unnecessarily delay the planning process, thereby holding up development delivery. It is therefore essential that all parties proceed as quickly as possible towards the resolution of meaningful and enforceable obligations in parallel to planning applications (including through pre-application discussions wherever appropriate) and in a spirit of early engagement and co-operation, with deadlines and working practices agreed in advance as far as possible (via formal planning performance agreements wherever possible to do so) in order to shape better quality schemes and improve the outcomes of a proposed development.
2.2 The Council will advise developers and applicants at the earliest opportunity if a planning obligation is required in connection with their development proposal as well as the reasons for this. Ideally this will form part of the pre-application discussions and further advice on this is provided in the pre-application protocol which is available on the Council’s website. In addition, applicants will be informed as soon as possible if it is likely that there is a potential reason for refusal which could be overcome through a planning obligation arising from engagement and consultation with the relevant infrastructure delivery bodies (both internal to the Council and external providers such as the County Council).
2.3 The need for and calculation of financial contributions will be applied consistently by the Council but may, occasionally, be subject to negotiation with the Development Management case officer dealing with the application in consultation with relevant colleagues both within and outside the Council, Where any departure from adopted policy is being proposed this will be made explicit and fully justified and in full accordance with the planning practice guidance.
2.4 The Development Management case officer in their report (whether delegated or committee) will include a detailed analysis setting out the requirements within the section 106 agreement explaining why it is necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms, stating how the requirements are directly related to the development being proposed and demonstrating how they are fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind. This section of the officer report can then be referred to in any future enquiries or planning appeals.
2.5 Wherever possible, all parties should use their best endeavors to ensure by the time applications are reported to the relevant Planning Committee, the legal agreement has either
- been signed by all necessary parties; or
- detailed drafting of the legal agreement has been agreed and execution of the agreement is imminent.
2.6 In terms of the latter, when a Planning Committee determines an application for planning permission subject to the completion of the legal agreement, the permission will not be issued until the legal agreement has been completed and signed. Officer reports will, in all cases, make recommendations as to the length of time reasonable to ensure the agreement is completed and signed with recourse to either allow for further time to be built into the process if negotiations are continuing proactively, or to allow for delegated authority to refuse planning permission if it becomes clear that the obligations are not going to be met and there is a clear and justified reason for doing so.