Planning Obligations and Developer Contributions

 

Aim of the guide

This guide is intended to provide developers and residents with essential information about the facilities that will be required to meet the needs of all new development, as set out in planning policy.

 

The guide sets out the following:

  • Why contributions are needed
  • How contributions are calculated
  • What planning policies require
  • How to submit a legal agreement

In order to provide detailed costings for development we strongly recommended that, after reading this guide, pre-application advice is sought from the Planning Applications Team, well in advance of preparing a planning application or purchasing a site.

 

 

What is required?

 

Thanet’s priorities are:

  • Transport Infrastructure
  • Affordable Housing
  • Leisure and Recreation
  • Primary, Secondary and Adult Education
  • Adult Social Services

Apart from the priorities (identified in the Sustainable Community Strategy, Thanet District Council Vision, Thanet District Council Corporate Plan, Thanet Local Plan, South East Plan & national planning policy), other community facilities in Thanet may require provision or funding if there is a justified need and they are fairly and reasonably related to the development in scale and kind, which may include:

 

  • Indoor sports facilities
  • Art provision / contributions to cultural facilities e.g. public art
  • Green infrastructure e.g improvements to parks
  • Heritage e.g. repair of listed building
  • Kent Police contributions e.g. town centre improvements
  • Libraries
  • Healthcare

Thanet’s priorities will take precedence unless there are exceptional site-specific needs that are considered to be of higher priority.

 

Thanet’s priorities will take precedence unless there are exceptional site-specific needs that are considered to be of higher priority.

 

Policy CF2 of the Thanet Local Plan sets out what is required:

 

“Where a proposed development would directly result in the need to provide new or upgraded community facilities (including transport infrastructure, educational or recreational facilities or affordable housing), the local planning authority will negotiate with the applicant for a contribution towards the cost of such provision, which is fairly and reasonably related in scale and in kind to the proposed development. A planning obligation to secure the contribution will normally be sought”

 

 

This is complemented by a number of other policies in the Plan (Thanet Local Plan 2006), being:

  • Policy H14 – affordable housing
  • Policy TR3 – transport infrastructure
  • Policy SR4 – outdoor sports facilities
  • Policy SR5 – play space
  • Policy H6 – new primary school at  Westwood
  • Policy D1 – art provision
  • Policy D2 – tree planting

Nationally, the Secretary of State’s policy(Circular 05 2005) is that where existing social and physical infrastructure is inadequate to address the impact of new development, it is reasonable to expect the developer to provide or contribute towards the financing of new or improved infrastructure, services or facilities directly relating to the development.

 

To meet Thanet’s infrastructure needs development proposals that place additional demands on existing local community facilities and services will usually be required to directly provide or pay for the necessary facilities and services.

 

Planning obligations must meet all of the following tests:

relevant to planning;

  • necessary to make the proposed development acceptable in planning terms;
  • directly related to the proposed development;
  • fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the proposed development; and
  • reasonable in all other respects

When are planning obligations required