Planning Obligations (Section 106 Agreements)
Planning Obligations
Where a planning obligation is required in connection with a proposed development in order to mitigate the impact it will have on East Devon’s infrastructure, planning permission will not be issued until the obligation has been satisfactorily completed.
If a planning obligation is not completed within the target time for making a decision on the planning application, planning permission may be refused on the grounds that the impact of the proposal will not be mitigated and it is therefore contrary to development plan policies.
The target date for making a decision on a planning application will be set out in the acknowledgement letter sent to the applicant/agent following registration of the application.
There are two main types of planning obligation that can be used, depending on the complexity of the issues the obligation is required to cover:
Unilateral Undertakings
A unilateral undertaking is a simple form of planning obligation which is relatively quick to complete. It involves the applicant completing a legal undertaking to pay the required financial contribution to the District Council at a specified time.
Unilateral undertakings can be used where
- the number and type of dwellings, and number of bedrooms proposed are clearly set out in the planning application description (for example, 3 x two-bedroomed dwellings and 6 x one-bedroomed flats) or shown on the accompanying plans, and
- where the planning obligation only needs to cover financial contributions towards public open space, community facilities or education facilities.
Such undertakings are usually submitted at the same time as the planning application and are already signed and dated.
Section 106 Agreements
Where a planning obligation needs to cover a more complex range of issues, or in the case of an outline application where the type of dwelling and number of bedrooms proposed is not stated, applicants will be required to complete a type of planning obligation commonly known as a S106 Agreement. This type of legal agreement will need to be entered into by the applicant, anyone else who has an interest in the land forming the application site, the District Council, and in some cases the County Council. It is therefore a more complex type of planning obligation than a unilateral undertaking, and normally takes longer and is more expensive to complete.
