Minutes:
Councillor Smith put the following question under Council Procedure Rule 9.
“I understand that from time to time the council, through its development management function, enters into agreements, in accordance with section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, with developers to provide works or facilities to mitigate the harmful effects of the developments it approves. It is important that these agreements are completed to prevent unnecessary costs associated with accommodating the development in the West Lindsey falling on the public purse. In view of the imminent adoption of the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan, which proposes further new housing developments in many of our towns and villages, can I ask that Council requests Challenge and Improvement Committee to establish a task and finish group to examine the use of s106 agreements to ensure that, as far as legally possible, everything is being done to ensure that developers make an appropriate contribution to mitigate the potentially harmful effects of these developments on the communities of the District”.
Councillor Bibb, as Chairman of the Prosperous Communities Committee responded:-
“I would like to thank Councillor Smith for his question.
Section 106 agreements are one way that key infrastructure can be secured to ensure that developments are carried out without unduly impacting on existing communities. However there are limits to what can be required through a section 106 agreement and a development that is unacceptable in principle cannot be made acceptable through a section 106 agreement. Above all the council must not be put in a position where it appears it is selling a planning permission.
Having said that it is equally important that development contributes to mitigating any harm that it causes and s106 agreements are a mechanism that a council can use to ensure that happens. It is also important that elected members know that all is being done to ensure that section106 are used appropriately and that any money collected by means of a section 106 agreement is spent for the purpose it was collected.
Given the number of working groups we have ongoing at the present time I don’t think it is appropriate for another to be set up to cover this area. However members have asked that section 106 monitoring is included in the revised Progress and Delivery arrangements to be put in place from April 2017 and that Prosperous Communities Committee receives a report on all outstanding s106 agreements (including the part of the District where they are located and progress with delivering the infrastructure that they require) early in the new municipal year.
I hope that this will satisfy the Councillor Smith as he is a member of Prosperous Communities Committee and will therefore be able to scrutinise and question the information supplied in the report.”
Councillor Smith posed a supplementary question, that whilst the response provided for those s106 agreements in the future to be included in the Progress and Delivery reports, what could be done to address previous agreements to ensure that they were appropriate?
The Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee responded that Planning was to be covered by the first quarter audit of the year and it was suggested that retrospective consideration be given to previous s106 agreements, as assurance for Cllr Smith.