Public access to information, and participation on section 106 agrements.

Planning Advisory Service (PAS)

Grŵp agored | Wedi dechrau - Gorffenaf 2012 | Gweithgaredd diwethaf - May

Former Member, Addaswyd 15 Years yn ôl.

Public access to information, and participation on section 106 agrements.

Can anyone help me please? Recently I attended a meeting where a chief planning officer said that the Section 106 agreements were the planners way of "making what would otherwise be unacceptable acceptable". She also said the developers and officers work together (in secret) on these decisions, and that the community could have no input or access. The officers just decide and that is that. Surely this is not best practise, and is unacceptable, as we are the ones to suffer at the hands of the planners, and the community should be involved in this "pay-off"? Now we are facing two simultaneous applications for 1,000 tonne a day waste plant to be put in either Southam or Rugby. The County Council is working with Cemex the applicant on these 106 agreements. What right do the public have, or the councillors have, to access the "offers" which are on the table, so we can decide of these do make the unacceptable, acceptable? Clearly there is huge money at stake in these issues. Can anyone advise me what the public can do please, as I fear local residents are being subjected to the "boiling the frog" syndrome and being nicely warmed up in sham consultations, with essential data withheld, while in the back room the officers and applicant work out what they can accept to help them "get away with this" - possibly as cheaply as possible? Is this what section 106 agreements are supposed to be, and how they are supposed to be worked out - in secret?

Former Member, Addaswyd 15 Years yn ôl.

Re: Public access to information, and participation on section 106 agreeme

Lilian, The situation with regard to Section 106's, which is a planning condition is spelt out in ODPM Circular 05/2005, published 18 July 2005 (attached for ease of access) and your attention is drawn particularly to Annex B of this document which addresses a few of your concerns. A following document, DCLG Planning Obligations: Practice Guide , published July 2006(also attached) outlines best practice a s examples to Councils. Rugby have produced a Supplementary Planning Document 'Planning Obligations SPD', published June 2007 (also attached) drawn up on the absis of the above 2 documents and others. My view, given without prejudice, is: 1. There does not appear to be a 'legal' requirement for Councils to involve the public in consultation ob Section 106's; 2. Para. B41 'Public Involvement' of the 2nd document(which is, I would stress is 'guidance', and not legislative) states: "Public Involvement: B41. The process of setting planning obligations policies and negotiating planning obligations should be conducted as openly, fairly and reasonably as possible and members of the public should be given every reasonable assistance in locating and examining proposed and agreed planning obligations which are of interest to them."; 3. Item 2. does not seem to have carried through into Rugby's SPD and perhaps it could be brought to their attention; I assume that they are, or have, gone out to public consultation on their Local Development Framework and if so, that is where issues such as you raise could be reasonable addressed. I hope that helps in some way but do not hesitate to contact me at anytime. Regards, Tony Direct tel: 0161-660-7297 admin@LandForSaleGroup.co.uk

Former Member, Addaswyd 15 Years yn ôl.

Re: Public access to information, and participation on section 106 agremen

Doubt PAS ever intended its forum to be a place for your assertions and remarks about planning. The best source of help is your local authority, after all, you partly pay for it. Rather than "we are are ones who suffer at the hands of planners" as you put it, I expect that overall your community benefits at the hands of planners, rather more than it suffers. Councillors are elected representatives to take decisions, if you are not happy there is of course the ballot box at the next election. I wasn't present at the meeting you had with a chief planning officer but if she was a chief & said what you report, she does planning a disservice. As Tony has pointed out in best practice authorities there should be no S106 secrecy but to be clear you have no rights to be present or be told the outcome of planning officer discussions with applicants. Best practice Councils have a S106 (planning obligations) policy which should have been the subject of publicity & invitation for anyone to comment on its practice/procedures. Also there is Government legislation & the most important in terms of your legal rights to S106 information is the Town & Country Planning (General Development Procedure) (Amendment) (England) Order 2002, the objective of which is to make planning decision making as transparant and as open as possible. Under this Order it is obligatory for your planning authority to record amongst other things, in its public Register of Planning Applications, details of any s106 'proposed' for a Planning Application. So a proposd S106 doc. in the offing, not just completed S106s should, in best practice authorities be able for inspection, therefore allowing comments to be made thereon to the decision maker.