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Planning Contributions for Open Space and Special Protection Area

Read the Planning contributions for open space and Special Protection Area tariff (PDF) [214KB]  (1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025).

Open space

Policy ID6 of the Local Plan: Development Management Policies (Part 2 of the Local Plan) requires residential development schemes of 11 or more dwellings to provide or fund new open space to make sure the available amount of open space keeps up with growing needs.

The requirements cover:

  • the amount and type of open space that should be provided on site, and
  • the financial contributions needed when it can't be provided on site (Section 106 contributions)

The tariff for financial contributions will be updated at least annually. This is to take into account inflation. We will use the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH) measure of inflation.

We will consult on a Planning Contributions for Open Space Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).

The document will:

  • provide detailed guidance for applicants on how the open space contributions are applied
  • explain the different types of open space.

After we have consulted on the SPD and adopted it, we will publish it on this web page. The open space contributions in the 2024-2025 tariff apply from 1 April 2024.

Open space contributions calculator

We've prepared two estimate calculators for open space provision. Those are:

  • on-site open space contributions calculator
  • off-site financial contributions calculator

Financial contributions will be due where:

  • a scheme does not meet the threshold for onsite provision in Policy ID6
  • some or all of any required on-site open space is not provided

The open space contributions calculators:

  • will help developers understand likely contributions
  • are not a comprehensive assessment of contributions

We may request those following full evaluation of a planning application.

Download the on-site open space contributions calculator (Excel doc) [26KB]

Download the off-site open space financial contributions calculator (Excel doc) [27KB]

Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area (SPA)

The protection of the Thames Basin Heaths SPA is dealt with in:

The Thames Basin Heaths SPA Avoidance Strategy SPD (the 'SPA Strategy') sets out a detailed approach.

The approach ensures that the protected habitats and species of the SPA are not harmed by new developments.

It requires new residential developments to:

  • fund or provide Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspaces (SANGs)
  • fund the Strategic Access Management and Monitoring (SAMM) project.

The SPA strategy sets out the SANG and SAMM tariffs for the 2016/2017 financial year. These tariffs were increased each year to account for inflation. The Council needs to update these tariffs to take account of:

  • new data from the 2021 census, and
  • changes to the SAMM tariff implemented by the Joint Strategic Partnership Board (the body that oversees the SAMM project).

The updated tariffs will be set out in a SANG and SAMM tariffs SPD. We will consult on the SPD in due course.

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