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Planning Advisory Service (PAS)
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Planning Obligations Formulas Within Local Plans Rather than SPD

Jonathan Pheasant, modified 10 Months ago.

Planning Obligations Formulas Within Local Plans Rather than SPD

Advocate Posts: 159 Join Date: 23/05/11 Recent Posts

In starting work on our new local plan, we’ve noticed that the PPG has changed to preclude local authorities including formula based approaches to planning obligations in SPDs (Paragraph: 004 Reference ID: 23b-004-20190901). We’ve also noticed in the PAS FAQs on new Supplementary Plans that these also can’t be used to set out detail, such as approaches to Planning Obligations. As an authority that doesn’t use CIL, we currently have an SPD to deal with Planning Obligations and formulas, and as a Unitary, this is a significant document. We are now wondering how we deal with this in the new Local Plan. This could delay the preparation of the Plan and also make it significantly longer as a document.

Are there any other non-CIL authorities that have come across this issue? If so, it would be really useful to know how other authorities are dealing with this as we have not really come across anyone who appears to have done this.

Andrea King, modified 10 Months ago.

RE: Planning Obligations Formulas Within Local Plans Rather than SPD

Enthusiast Posts: 76 Join Date: 19/08/13 Recent Posts

Hi Jonathan

We're also a unitary county-based LA and had to make modifications to include our planning obligations formulae in explanatory appendices to our Northumberland Local Plan (adopted March 2022) - see Appendices D and H1-4 re. affordable housing, open space, education, health and coastal mitigation.  So would agree they can't be set out in an SPD (no point now anyway seeing as SPD's are set to become defunct).  Not sure about Supplementary Plans tbh, but guess if the policy requiring the contribution is in the main Local Plan then so should the formula be.

Andrea

Jonathan Pheasant, modified 10 Months ago.

RE: Planning Obligations Formulas Within Local Plans Rather than SPD

Advocate Posts: 159 Join Date: 23/05/11 Recent Posts

Thnaks for this Andrea. Very helpful.