Section 106 Planning Obligations

Hart District Council, along with most planning authorities, is faced with a large number of issues relating to the provision of infrastructure of all types associated with the provision of new development.

Infrastructure comes in various forms, and includes:

• Affordable Housing
• Other communal provision designed to off-set the impacts that development has on the wider community.

Planning obligations (or "section 106 agreements") are private agreements negotiated, usually in the context of planning applications between local planning authorities and persons with an interest in a piece of land (or "developers"), and intended to make acceptable development which would otherwise be unacceptable in planning terms. Obligations can also be secured through unilateral undertakings by developers.

Because of the pressure from Central Government there is a need to ensure planning applications are determined quickly and efficiently. Since a number of applications will require legal agreements it is imperative to clarify at the earliest stage what contributions may be needed for a particular development. The Council has also indicated that for those types of development where a contribution is needed then details need to be submitted with the planning application as part of the Local Planning Application Requirements.

In order to assist developers, the Council has produced a Quick Reference Guide for developers, of the likely contributions that the Authority will be seeking associated with development. These may be financial contributions or development in kind and will need to be clarified in relation to individual applications. This note does not deal with specific items of infrastructure provision that might be necessary from an individual development, such as specific highway improvements, or for major developments, where specific negotiation is likely to be necessary. The Council has specific guidance on pre-application discussions.

This Quick Reference Guide is not designed to set out the full justification behind the reasons that the Council is seeking a contribution in a particular case. These are set out in the relevant topic Strategy, such as the Housing Strategy, North Hampshire Transport Strategy, Leisure Strategy or in the Local Plan.