Planning Obligation - A Guide to Section 106 and Developer Contributions
Ended on the 21 December 2009
Appendix 4:
Glossary
This glossary contains words, phrases and names of organisations that are mentioned in this Guidance and are relevant to the planning process.
| Affordable housing | Subsidised housing at below market prices or rents intended for those households who cannot afford housing at market rates. The accommodation is usually managed by an registered social landlord (RSL). |
| Borough Local Plan | Plan prepared under Part II, Chapter 1 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 by a local planning authority for its area. Borough local plans will be replaced by a local development framework prepared under the provisions in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. Southend’s Unitary Development Plan (UDP) was adopted 1 March 1994. |
| Character | The distinctive or typical quality of an area as described by its historic fabric; appearance; townscape; and other land uses. |
| Circulars | Government publications explaining procedural matters and legislation. Circular 05/2005 relates to ‘Planning Obligations’. The purpose of this Circular is to provide guidance to local authorities in England on the use of planning obligations under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as substituted by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991. |
| Commercial Floorspace | Floorspace utilised by the following uses: offices, industry, warehousing, showrooms, hotels, retail, entertainment and private educational, health and leisure facilities, other than social and community uses that are principally provided by the public sector. This does not include residential use. |
| Commuted sum | A financial payment made, in accordance with a planning agreement, by a developer towards the provision of, for example, affordable housing. |
| Conditions | A restriction or qualification imposed when planning permission or other consent is granted under the Planning Acts. Conditions are required in law to be necessary, relevant to planning, directly related to the development to be permitted, enforceable, precise and reasonable in all other respects. |
| Conservation Area | An area of special architectural or historic interest designated by the local planning authority under the provisions of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance. |
| Department for Community & Local Government (DCLG) | Government department, established in 2006, responsible for community cohesion and equality, for housing, urban regeneration, planning and local government. |
| Development | The carrying out of building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over or under the land; or the making of any material change in the use of any buildings or other land, as defined in the Town and County Planning Act 1990 as amended. Unless it is defined under the Act as ‘permitted development’, planning permission is required for the carrying out of any development of land. |
| Development Control Committee | This committee has power to make most decisions in respect of planning applications and other development control matters. Made up of elected councillors in proportion to the political complexion of the Borough Council. Members of the committee are not bound to follow the recommendations of planning officers when taking their decisions. |
| Development Plan | Under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, the development plan comprises the regional spatial strategy (RSS) prepared by East of England (known as the East of England Plan), the Southend-on-Sea Borough Local Plan 1994, until it is replaced by development plan documents prepared under that Act, and any DPDs or SPDs adopted as part of the Local Development Framework . If regard is to be had to the development plan for the purpose of any determination to be made under the Planning Acts the determination must be made in accordance with the plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. |
| Development Plan Document (DPD) | These documents outline the key development goals of the Local Development Framework (LDF). Eventually these documents will replace the Borough Local Plan. |
| Entertainment Use | Uses within Class A3 (Restaurants and Cafes) A4 (Drinking Establishments) and A5 (Hot Food Take-aways) and other entertainment uses where the primary activity is use as a nightclub, live music and dance venue, discotheque, entertainment centre, dance hall, casino or bingo hall. These are mostly uses where the greatest attendances occur during the evening or at night. Most of these uses fall within Class D2 of the Revised (2005) Use Classes Order 1987. It does not include theatres. |
| Government Office for the East of England | The Government Office for the East of England is responsible for overseeing the preparation of the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) and Local Development Frameworks (LDF). |
| Key workers | Person having skills in an employment sector important to the functioning of the region in which employers have severe difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff. Some categories of key worker are eligible for special forms of housing assistance. |
| Listed building | A building contained in a list of buildings of special architectural or historic interest prepared by the Secretary of State for the Environment. Before any work can be carried out which affects the character or appearance of a listed building, inside or out, listed building consent is required. |
| Local Development Framework (LDF) | The new plan-making system, introduced by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 requires local planning authorities to prepare a local development framework, which will comprise development plan documents, which will form part of the statutory Development Plan and supplementary planning documents which will provide additional detail. The framework will also include the statement of community involvement, the local development scheme and the annual monitoring report. |
| Material considerations | A factor which a local planning authority may take into account in making a decision on a planning application before it. In certain circumstances, such a factor, or a combination of them, may be sufficient to lead the authority to determine the application other than in accordance with the provisions of the development plan. Where that occurs, the factor or factors involved must, by law, be genuine planning matters, relating to the development and use of land, and must fairly and reasonably relate to the application concerned. |
| Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) | Government department responsible between 2002 and 2006 for regional and local government (including the regional Government Offices), housing, planning, regeneration and neighbourhood renewal. The ODPM is now the Department for Communities and Local Government. |
| Permitted development | Some development does not require planning permission from the Borough Council. Blanket permission is given by the General Permitted Development Order. |
| Planning agreement | See planning obligation |
| Planning obligation | Also known as "S106 agreements". 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. For example, planning obligations might be used to prescribe the nature of a development (e.g. by requiring that a given proportion of housing is affordable); or to secure a contribution (financial or non-monetary) from a developer to compensate for loss or damage created by a development (e.g. loss of open space); or to mitigate a development's impact (e.g. through increased public transport provision). The outcome of all three of these uses of planning obligations should be that the proposed development concerned is made to accord with published local, regional or national planning policies. |
| Planning permission | A written consent to the carrying out of development issued by a local planning authority or, on appeal, by a Planning Inspector or the Secretary of State. The permission is normally subject to conditions and will lapse if the development is not started within a stated period of time. Planning permission for buildings may be in outline where the principle is approved, subject to the later submission of further applications for the approval of reserved matters. |
| Planning Policy Guidance Notes (PPG) | Government policy notes which contain advice on a wide variety of planning issues. PPGs are being replaced by PPSs. |
| Planning Policy Statements (PPS) | Government policy statements (replacing PPGs) which contain guidance on planning issues. |
| Public Art | Permanent or temporary physical works of art visible to the general public, whether as part of a building or freestanding: can include sculpture, lighting effects, and the designed treatment of street furniture, paving, railings and signs. |
| Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) | The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 strengthened the role and importance of regional planning, introducing Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS) and making them the top tier of the statutory Development Plan in all regions of England except London, where the London Plan provides a similar role. RSSs provide a consistent regional framework to inform the preparation of Local Development Documents which must be in general conformity with the RSS, local transport plans and regional and sub-regional strategies and programmes with a bearing on land use activities. The RSS for Essex is the East of England Plan 2008. |
| Registered Social Landlord (RSL) | Organisation registered with the Housing Corporation under the provisions in Chapter 1 of the Housing Act 1996. The organisations concerned may be housing associations which are registered charities, or non-profit-making provident societies or companies. They must provide housing kept available for letting, and meet other requirements set out in the Act. |
| Residential Use | As set out in the Use Classes Order (C3) Dwelling Houses unless otherwise stated. |
| Section 38(6) (formerly 54A) | The provision within the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (2004) which contains the principle of the development plan-led system. Planning decisions must be made in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. |
| Section 106 Agreement | An agreement or undertaking made under s106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to secure planning obligations. Sections 46 and 47 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (2004) give the Secretary of State the power to make regulations to replace S106, but these powers have not yet been taken up. |
| Social, Community and Cultural Facilities | Most social, community and cultural facilities are in classes C2, D1 and D2 of the Use Classes Order. Such facilities can include social service uses, health facilities, some leisure and recreation facilities such as libraries, theatres and general social uses such as community meeting facilities and community halls etc. |
| Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) (formerly SPG) | Formally adopted policy statements that either elaborate key policies set out in the UDP/LDF or set out how policies apply to a particular site. They are prepared to cover particular development topics, or area-based issues, such as planning briefs. SPDs will consist of the main document, a sustainability appraisal, an equalities impact assessment and a consultation plan. Recent SPDs are a material consideration in the determination of planning applications. |
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