General Comments

1. Developer contributions must clearly be additional to Council funding not replacement for it; they should provide an additional benefit to the Borough.

Developer contributions must apply whenever a development leads to a net increase in dwellings.

Criterion 8 (Applications and maintenance/administration of planning obligations) is inappropriate as destination for developer contributions. Such expenditure should be reflected in the fees charged for processing the planning application. A wide range sliding scale for such fees needs to be implemented.

Criterion 7 (Flood Risk and Resources) is concerned with issues which should be in-built and form part of the planning application itself. Some issues also fall within the realm of Building Regulations. It is therefore not appropriate for developer contributions to be directed to such matters.

The first call on developer contributions should be for projects benefiting the immediate local area. Pooling contributions across the Borough should be a lower priority and pooling across regional schemes should be avoided.

Schemes benefiting from developer contributions should be small scale requiring minimal overheads. Grandiose projects that require significant administration and protracted time-scales must be avoided.

Decisions on the allocation to schemes must be taken by councillors in conjunction with residents and not by officers.

Planning obligations must be administered in such a way as to provide full public scrutiny. This must included clear financial statements detailing sources and destinations of funding. Such information should be provided on an on-going basis.

1. Transport and Accessibility.

Additional projects: park and ride schemes

Emphasis must be placed on public transport

2. Education, Training and Skills

Criteria C, E & F are the private business domain and should not be treated as destinations for Council funding

3. Community Facilities, Health and Safety.

Criterion 3 (adequate provision of all health facilities. This is the responsibility of the NHS not the Council.

Criterion 4 (provision of extra care housing and supported accommodation) is too ambitious an objective and will require significant administrative overhead.

4. Public Art and Realm.

Public art should not be provided from developer contributions. The buildings themselves should improve and enhance the public arena.

5. Natural Environment and Conservation

Allotments are a public asset and amenity and must never be used for development

6. Affordable Housing

Provision must be made for ensuring that the affordable units remain affordable into the future.

Managed by Housing Association

Units provided within development

7. Flood Risk and Resources

Should be part of development or covered by building regulations

8. Application and Maintenance/Administration of Planning Obligations

Contributions must not be used to cover staff costs and other administrative expenditure. Costs should be recovered through application fees – wide ranging sliding scale