Decision details

RESOLVED:-

(i)         that the Council does not adopt and therefore will not undertake the liability for maintenance of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) for new major developments within the Borough, immediately following their construction, with the exception that a SuDS is required to be adopted as part of the formal highways adoption process;

(ii)        that, if as part of a planning application, there is a proposal to provide a SuDS solution to serve properties (i.e. not a SuDS within a property’s boundary), that the responsibility for the long term maintenance of the SuDs should remain with the landowner; this responsibility may be discharged directly by the landowner (initially likely to be the developer) or transferred to a 3^rd party, such as a Management Company; should the maintenance responsibilities fail to be performed, the ultimate responsibility will still remain with the owner of the land, on which the SuDS is located;

(iii)       that, in order to safeguard the ongoing maintenance of the SuDS, in the event that the established maintenance regime fails, the Director of Legal and Governance will seek to ensure the longer term maintenance of SuDS by agreeing appropriate clauses within a S106 agreement pursuant to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990; Upon failure of the established maintenance regime, the Council will seek to ensure it has the power to undertake maintenance of the SuDS directly, with the costs of this undertaking being funded by property owners on the development which the SuDS serves making periodic payments;

(iv)       that the Director of Finance, Assets and Information Services be authorised to collect and process any periodic charges that arise through implementation of any S106 agreement; and

(v)        that the Service Directors of Environment and Transportation and Economic Regeneration be authorised to create a Guidance Document for SuDS for developers of new major developments; Upon adoption of the Local Plan, a formal Supplementary Planning Document will be produced to replace the Guidance Document.