Tendring District Council | What are Section 106 Legal Agreements?

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Section 106 (S106) Agreements are legal agreements between Local Authorities and developers; these are linked to planning permissions and can also be known as planning obligations.

Section 106 agreements are drafted when it is considered that a development will have significant impacts on the local area that cannot be moderated by means of conditions attached to a planning decision.

For example, a new residential development can place extra pressure on the social, physical and economic infrastructure which already exists in a certain area. A Planning obligation will aim to balance the pressure created by the new development with improvements to the surrounding area ensuring that where possible the development would make a positive contribution to the local area and community.

What the Section 106 Agreement will cover

When a planning application is submitted to the Council, we will assess the application as to whether the development would cause a significant impact to the area and community.

The S.106 will vary depending on the nature of the development and based on the needs of the District. The most common obligations include:-

Public Open Space
Affordable Housing
Education
Highways
Town Centre Improvements
Health
Recreation Disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy (RAMS)

Preparation of the Section 106 Agreement

The content of the S.106 agreement is agreed through the consultation period of the planning application with the relevant parties and planning officer. The S.106 Legal Agreement can be prepared by the council's solicitors and the applicants will be required to pay the solicitor's fees excluding VAT.

Spending of the contributions & Infrastructure Funding Statement

Our quarterly report shows you how and where contributions have been spent and the Infrastructure Funding Statement for 2020/2021 shows in more detail monies received and allocated to projects across the District.

The statement provides a summary of financial contributions the Council has secured through Section 106 agreements from new developments for off-site open space, affordable housing and regeneration work along with highway works completed as part of new developments through Section 278 agreements.

In summary, the report provides:

an overview of what S106 and S278 agreements are
the Council’s internal process relating to S106 contributions
the s106 contributions paid to the Council in the current year
s106 contributions and s278 works committed for future years
projects delivered in the District via S106 and S278 agreements in the current year