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Planning Obligations
Agreements made with developers to address the impact of development including Section 106 (s106) agreements and unilateral undertakings.
What are Planning Obligations?
To address the impacts of a development proposal, South Hams District Council sometimes enters into planning agreements with Developers.
There are two ways that Developers can do this:
- An agreement between the developer and the Council under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (often called a section 106 or s106 agreement).Before 1990, these agreements were called Section 52 agreements.
- A Unilateral Undertaking by the developer without the Council.
When can planning obligations be sought by the Council?
Planning obligations are intended to lessen the impact of unacceptable development to make it acceptable in planning terms. They can only be used as a reason for granting planning permission if they meet the following tests. They must be:
- Necessary to make the development acceptable in Planning terms;
- Directly related to the development; and
- Fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development.
What is the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)?
In some areas of the Country, Developers may also contribute towards infrastructure by the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). This is a fixed charge levied on new development to fund infrastructure.
Currently, West Devon Borough Council do not have a CIL in place, preferring to use s106 to secure appropriate contributions and actions from Developers.
CIL remains under review as part of the plan making process.
To find out more about Developer Contributions, please visit Gov.UK.
Other S106 Information
Application to vary a Section 106 planning obligation
Once you have completed the form, please email it and any accompanying documents to the email address on the form.
A fee is not required for this application type.
Finding a Section 106
Most planning obligations are available on our planning portal and can be accessed through our planning search.
For this, you will need the planning application reference number or address to which the S106 refers to. When viewing the agreement there may also be documents relating to financial compliance.
If the S106 you are looking for is not on our planning portal then you can request copies of documents using our Planning History Search. Please note there is a charge of £50 for this service.
Checking for S106 Compliance
When buying land your solicitor may want to see a copy of the Section 106 agreement to ensure that there are no obligations within it, which have not been complied with and that may therefore affect you as the purchaser.
Please see above about Finding a Section 106.
If you still need further information about whether an entire agreement or a specific obligation has been complied with, you can submit a paid request by clicking on the submit a request button below. Please submit a separate request for each site.
The charge for this service will be £200 (plus VAT) per request. Once we receive your form, we will advise you if a site visit is required to confirm compliance and an extra £150 (plus VAT) will then be payable.
To proceed, you will need the date of the Section 106 agreement and the planning permission or site address to which it relates to. You will also need a payment card to pay online.