Agenda item

At its meeting on 27 July 2023, the Committee had considered a Section 106 Monitoring report, which provided a schedule showing the details of Section 106 contributions that had been secured, received and spent as of the date of the report.  The Committee had raised concerns about the following matters:

·      lack of member and parish council involvement in decisions to re-prioritise spend

·      substantial sums of unspent monies with a specific focus on education and health care contributions,

·      the robustness of negotiations on Section 106 for larger scale development with specific reference to the Wisley Airfield site.

The Committee requested that a further report be submitted to respond to some of the specific questions raised to enable the Committee to have a better understanding of how Section 106 monies were held and being spent. 

The Committee considered the further report, presented by the Executive Head of Planning Development, which addressed these concerns.   

During the debate, the following points were raised by the Committee:

·      Further information was requested on the Council’s approach with Surrey County Council (SCC) and the Integrated Care Board (ICB), on ensuring that the appropriate infrastructure was put in place and the S106 funding allocated for those purposes was spent.  The Executive Head of Planning Development confirmed that SCC had recently appointed an officer responsible for monitoring S106 spend at a more senior level and that she would be seeking to establish a more robust governance arrangement, with more frequent discussions and reporting to each other on S106 spend onSCC related matters. In relation to the ICB, the Executive Head of Planning Development referred to recent discussions that had taken place in the context of the Wisley public inquiry, in particular the extent to which their requirements met the CIL tests, which would be explored by the Inspector through the round-table discussions on the S106, and by the outcome of the appeal.

·      In relation to the Wisley public inquiry, it was noted that although the allocation site was supposed to have included a secondary school, such provision had not been included in the S106.

·      In response to an enquiry as to whether any of the S106 monies allocated to the upgrading of a nature reserve in Send could be used for other projects in the village, the Executive Head of Planning Development confirmed that the allocation of those S106 monies would be determined ultimately by the wording of the Agreement and whether there was any flexibility to allocate some of the monies to other projects 

·      It was noted that contributions to SANGs were substantial due to the fact that their upkeep was required in perpetuity. 

·      It was also noted that parish councils, community groups and residents can request as part of the consideration of planning applications contributions, via S106 Agreements, for particular projects in the area, which could be included provided the compliance tests were met.

Having considered the report, the Committee   

RESOLVED: That the contents of the report be noted.

Reason:

To ensure that the Committee is informed of the measures to be implemented to address concerns raised at its meeting on 27 July 2023.