Agenda item

Laura Sharman, S106 Programme Manager was welcomed to the meeting to give an overview of what the Section 106 obligations were and the monies available and due in the future for the Penistone area.

Members were reminded of the basis of Section 106 payments through planning obligations which included affordable housing, education, public open space and sustainable transport.  Members were informed that the sustainable transport criteria had been adopted in 2019 resulting in the monies from that criteria would be seen in the near future and that those monies were charged in addition to other S106 funds and not taken out of the original 3 criteria.

Members were informed about the process for spending S106 financial contributions and that once signed, it came into effect if the planning permissions was implemented and reached the trigger point for payments such as commencement on site or just prior to occupation and that it is registered as a land ensuring that any future land owners would be obligated to pay until the terms were met.

Members questioned what affordable housing.  They were informed that it could be either the purchase of land in order for the Council to build new affordable housing or the purchase of empty properties for Berneslai Homes to rent out. 

Members spoke of their previous concerns around S106 monies being accumulated through developments in the area which were then placed in a Borough wide pot and spent elsewhere.  They were reassured that this was no longer the case and that any monies accumulated through agreements in the Penistone Area would be allocated and spent in the Penistone Wards.

Members were provided with an update on the Section 106 monies that had been spent in the area under each of the 4 criteria and the future agreements that had been signed but had not been implemented at the time of the meeting.

Concerns were raised around the monies made available to fund schools places, members stated that whilst this was welcome, the schools around Penistone were full to capacity and that the buildings could not physically take further children by expanding as they do not have the space.  They were also concerned that further building of houses in the area would result in the radius for school allocations to shrink resulting in children that technically lived in the area for Penistone schools to not receive places and them having to travel further afield having a knock on effect on other schools in the Borough such as Horizon, Darton and Kirk Balk.

A verbal update was provided on the 400 property Wellhouse Lane Development which had been agreed through Planning and an outline of the agreed S106 monies that would be paid was given including £200,000 for works to be carried out around the Bridge End junction plus funding towards 79 Primary School places and 56 Secondary Schools places.

Members were informed that an Annual Infrastructure Fund Statement had been produced since 2019/20 which set out the Section 106 activity of the period, including the Council’s internal process relating to S106 contributions, the contributions made in the particular year, projects delivered throughout the Borough and S106 monies secured for future years.

Members raised concerns around Section 106 contributions promised to local projects that had not been paid resulting in the projects having to find contributions elsewhere, ie through the Ward Alliances.  They were informed that if the development was not to happen or it was stalled for reasons such as lockdown then the funding would not come into the pot until the agreed trigger points for payments such as an amount to be paid on the 25^th property being sold.  Members noted that whilst this had happened in the past, schemes would not be taken to Panel and approved unless the money was already there.   

RESOLVED that thanks be given for the presentation and hard work undertaken by Laura Sharman in the management and allocation of Section 106 contributions.