Section 106 Funds

This is an old issue dating back to Dec 2008

LARA believes that the Lichfield District Council (LDC) needs to form a more transparent process for disbursing section 106 funds which they receive from developers. In 2004-2005 section 106 monies from Darwin Park housing estate were spent to fund the restoration of the Garrick theatre. While a noble cause, these monies should have gone back into the development from whence they came. This is in accordance with the principles set forth by the Home Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. ODPM Circular 05/2005 Planning Obligations, which applied at the time, states:

B5. The Secretary of State's policy requires, amongst other factors, that planning obligations are only sought where they meet all of the following tests. The rest of the guidance in this Circular should be read in the context of these tests, which must be met by all local planning authorities in seeking planning obligations.

A planning obligation must be:

  1. relevant to planning;
  2. necessary to make the proposed development acceptable in planning terms;
  3. directly related to the proposed development;
  4. fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the proposed development; and
  5. reasonable in all other respects.

The monies should be put to use on those projects which are (iii) directly related to the proposed development. The Garrick Theatre is not directly related to the Darwin Park Housing estate and so we believe that taking money from the estate and putting it there is contrary to "ODPM Circular 05/2005 Planning Obligations".