Whilst I'll leave it to you to review wherever it has been superseded by NPPF, CLG's Planning Obligations: Planning Guidance (July 2006) states: Clarifying the role of conditions and obligations 4.16 Both Circulars 11/95 on the use of conditions and Circular 5/05 on obligations set out that permission cannot be granted subject to a condition that the developer enters into a planning obligation. Some LPAs have used negatively worded (“Grampian”) planning conditions stating that development may not commence until certain provisions have been made, for which a planning obligation will be necessary. LPAs intending to adopt this approach will need to be very careful to ensure that any condition imposed is in line with the tests for conditions set out in Circular 11/95, in particular that it is sufficiently precise. LPAs may wish to seek further legal guidance on this point. At Worcester we always use a S106. From a practical perspective if an applicant wishes to challenge a S106 it can be based on merits of the case whereas a challenge on a condition may be based exclusively on whether it is ultra vires.
