What is a Section 106 Planning Obligation?
Planning obligations are created under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. They are therefore known as 'Section 106 obligations'. They are legally binding obligations that are attached to a piece of land and are registered as local land charges against that piece of land. Planning obligations enable a council to secure contributions to services, infrastructure and amenities in order to support and facilitate a proposed development.

The requirements of a Section 106 obligation will vary according to the size, impact and nature of the proposed development. At Guildford Borough Council, our planning officers rely on the adopted Local Plan of 2003 as well as Supplementary Planning Guidance and Documents (SPGs and SPDs) to inform applicants of the requirements for their particular application.

What is the purpose of these obligations?
Planning legislation includes the essential principle that development should pay for the social and physical infrastructure to support and facilitate a development. It would not be fair to expect a developer to contribute towards existing service deficiencies such as a shortage of school places or library facilities, or repairs to the highway. However, it would be fair to expect them to contribute to limiting the impact of their own development on the local area.

How is the type and level of contribution decided?
The key principles for establishing 106 contributions are defined and structured in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) Circular 05/05, and are also referred to in a number of Planning Policy Guidance notes (PPGs) dealing with specific policy management issues. For example, PPG13 gives detailed guidance on contributions for measures to assist public transport. Circular 05/05 defines the parameters for the negotiation process and establishes that contributions must be:

• Relevant to planning;
• Necessary;
• Directly related to the proposed development;
• Fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind;
• Reasonable in all other respects.

Planning officers will not ask for any contribution unless it relates 'fairly' to the development. If a developer offers any unrelated contribution as an inducement, planning officers will disregard this when determining the application.  For example, it may not be proper for a local authority to seek contributions towards the development of a swimming pool arising from an application for a supermarket development. However, it would be proper to expect a supermarket developer to contribute towards highway improvements (if appropriate) and an enhanced landscaping plan.

In practice, it is not unreasonable for communities to identify those areas where there are weaknesses in social and physical infrastructure to which contributions could be sought from new development. For example, affordable housing, sheltered accommodation, open space and local environmental improvements.

How will the contribution be spent?
Section 106 obligations will often specifically identify what the financial contribution will be used for. A working group, which includes officers from all potential 'spending' service units such as Housing and Leisure, works with the Section 106 Officer to ensure that contributions are correctly allocated and handled. In addition, our Section 106 Officer makes sure that no agreed payments are missed or fail to be collected for whatever reason. 

How do you establish priorities for contributions?
As the local authority, one of our key roles in this process is to identify and prioritise 'needs' within our borough and to consider these alongside present and proposed developer contributions.  For example, there might be a lack of play equipment in a residential area; no community hall where one is needed; or a very limited amount of affordable housing for key workers.

As part of this process, we maintain a Community Interest List . This is a database containing 'needs' or 'wishes' that have been identified by councillors, parish councils, residents' associations and other interested groups. Planning officers refer to this list when they are negotiating Section 106 obligations with developers.

Who to contact for information and advice
Please email or phone our Section 106 Officer, Mary Anne Pryor, if you have any questions about planning obligations or any suggestions for the Community Interest List. 

Email maryanne.pryor@guildford.gov.uk or phone 01483 444463