Community Assembly Members’ Briefing Paper Name of Community Assembly: South West Date of Meeting: 13th January 2011 Agenda Item: Report Title: Section 106 Update Report Author: Keith Missen, Contact Number: 2734196 Environmental Planning Manager. Service & Directorate or Organisation: Planning Service, Purpose of Paper: (please mark ‘X’) For Decision (please describe Information / Progress Update X in detail below) Paper Headlines and Summary: To provide information on the S106 allocation process and to provide an update on the overall Section 106 position in the Assembly Area. Recommendations to the Community Assembly Members’ Briefing: To note the information provided What decision, if any, is required from the Community Assembly Members’ Briefing? None Attached: Appendix 1 - Copy of a report to the Assembly Chairs Group on 11th January 2011 summarising the general s106 allocation process. Appendix 2 - Summary extracted from the S106 database showing all S106 agreements that have occurred in the Community Assembly Area 1.0 PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT 1.1 To advise Members of the process discussed with the Chair for allocating open space Section 106 agreements to projects. 1.2 To provide an update on the general Section 106 position for the Assembly Area. 1.3 To provide members with further information in two appendices, covering the Section 106 allocation process and providing a summary of all agreements extracted from the Section 106 monitoring database. 1.4 To answer any questions that members may have on the Section 106 process. 2.0 PROCESS DISCUSSED FOR ALLOCATING S106 AGREEMENTS TO PROJECTS. 2.1 New open space Section 106 agreements need to be considered by Community Assemblies at least once, and preferably twice, each year so that they can be allocated to project sites. 2.2 Section 106 agreements have not yet been discussed by the South West Community Assembly and so a meeting was held on 10th November 2010 between the Community Assembly Chair, Assembly Manager and officers from Planning and Parks. 2.3 The process that has been adopted by most Community Assemblies follows on from that used by most former Area Panels. Usually an officer pre-meeting takes place to consider agreements that have not been allocated and to prepare a list of recommendations. The recommendations are then reported to a Community Assembly briefing meeting and either accepted or modified by members. The final agreed allocations are then reported at an Assembly business meeting. 2.4 It was agreed at the meeting on 10th November 2010 that allocation of Section 106 agreements should be dealt with at a future briefing meeting but before this is done, the Park’s tasking officer should work with the Assembly to identify priority sites for investment. This work will build upon the list of green space sites in the Assembly’s action plan and draw on the quality audit of open space sites which was carried out as part of the Green and Open Space Strategy 2.5 The action plan sites are as follows: • Lydgate Lane Park • Dore Rec • Millhouses Park (resurfacing of tennis courts) • Endcliffe Park • Forge Dam and playground • Shepherd’s Wheel • Green and open spaces in Fulwood • Spider Park • Wyming Brook Once the tasking officer has completed this work, allocation of S106 agreements to the sites of greatest benefit should be a relatively straightforward process. Maintaining and updating the priority sites list will be important. 3.0 GENERAL UPDATE FOR THE ASSEMBLY AREA 3.1 The overall Section 106 position for the Assembly Area is as follows: 3.2 £831,303 has been received from 53 S106 agreements and spent on completed projects throughout the Community Assembly area. 3.3 £29,711 has been received from a further 3 agreements and allocated to 3 projects which are currently being designed or are on site. 3.4 18 agreements to the value of £218,125 have been made but funds not yet received. In most cases this is because the developments have not started on site. Start on site is the usual trigger for payment and it should be noted that if a development does not commence, then no monies will be received. For one of these agreements (Ref 564 Riverdale Road Flats), the developer has gone into liquidation without paying the section 106 funds of £47,630. The case is with Legal services to see if the funds can be recovered. Money cannot be received for a further two agreements because two development sites each have two valid planning applications both with a section 106 agreement. For each site, only one planning application can proceed. 4.0 FURTHER INFORMATION 4.1 For members information 2 appendices are attached 4.2 Appendix 1 is a copy of a report to the Assembly Chairs Group on 11th January 2011. This summarises the general process. 4.3 Appendix 2 is a summary extracted from the S106 database showing all S106 agreements that have occurred in the Community Assembly Area. Agreements without a “tick” are those which will need to be allocated to projects at a future briefing meeting. 5.0 RECOMMENDATION 5.1 That members note the information provided in this report in advance of agreeing allocations at a future briefing meeting. APPENDIX 1 Assembly Chairs Group 11th January 2011 Paper on the allocation of Open Space Section 106 agreements by Assemblies 1. Open space Section 106 (S106) agreements are financial contributions made by developers who are building more than 5 dwellings on a site, based on a formula. They are intended to compensate for loss / lack of green space or recreational facilities, and should be spent as close to the development site as is reasonably practical. Many S106 agreements are for less than £10,000, but they can be considerable sums of over £100,000. 2. By their nature, the number of S106 funding agreements is dependent on the strength of the residential property market. It is also uncertain funding, since agreements are made when Planning Permission is granted, but money will not be paid until a development has commenced or been partially occupied. Not all developments which receive Planning Permission are built or completed and so money may never be received. 3. A protocol for allocating S106 funds was agreed with Chairs of the former Area Panels. 4. Officer discussion usually preceded Panel meetings so that a provisional allocation of funds to priority sites could be recommended to Members for their consideration at briefing meetings. 5. The same procedure has been followed now that Community Assemblies are in place, and allocations now require consideration by Members at public Assembly Meetings, to inform the public and make the process more transparent. 6. Once or twice a year, the Assembly Manager should be meeting with the S106 Officer, an officer from the Environmental Planning Team, and a Parks Officer (now the Parks Tasking Officer). There is scope for Assembly Chairs to be included in these meetings, if required. 7. The officers will consider a list of new S106 agreements for their area, and based on local knowledge and Assembly priorities, they will suggest a site or sites for the funds to be allocated to. Sites should generally be in accordance with priorities set out in the Council’s Green and Open Space strategy and it may be that Community Assemblies wish to include priority sites in their action plans. In the current economic climate, the number of sites currently being developed for housing is low. 8. The officer proposals will be drafted into a report by Environmental Planning or the Assembly Manager, to be considered and discussed by Assembly Members at a Members Briefing. 9. On the basis of these discussions, the report will be revised and redrafted, and presented to a public Community Assembly meeting for a decision by Members on the site allocations. Members can request additional community consultation on high value agreements. 10. The decision of the Assembly is intended to be final, but can be revisited and changed by the Assembly if circumstances change. 11. It should be noted that the Government is to reform the planning system and that S106 agreements are not likely to exist in their current form at some point in the next 12 to 24 months. Therefore, it is likely that less money will be available for open space investment from this source in future. Rebecca Maddox, Interim Partnership and Local Action Manager Keith Missen, Environmental Planning Team Manager APPENDIX 2 Summary of all open space Section 106 agreements in the Community Assembly Area This information is extracted from the section 106 monitoring database. The large box on the left hand side of each page gives a general indication of the status of each agreement as follows: • Awaiting money. The agreement has been made but money has not yet been received. This is usually because money becomes due only when development commences on site or at a different specified trigger point. If the development does not commence, then the agreement will yield no money. • Awaiting programming. Money has been received for the agreement but design work has not yet commenced. This may be because the agreement site has not yet been agreed or because more money is awaited to enable project work to commence. • Design. The project is not yet on site but is at some stage of the delivery process such as gaining approvals, consultation, design, tender etc. • On site. Construction is taking place. • Complete. Construction has finished. On the right hand side of the page is a tick box under the heading of “Site(s) agreed by Assembly”. If this box is ticked, the agreement has already been allocated to a project at an earlier Assembly meeting or by the former Area Panel.