Rules on spending S 106 funding relaxed (at last)

Recreational facilities, more options for Towns and Parishes

At Babergh's Strategy Committee this week a decision was made that should inject significant additional funding for recreational facilities into the District.

A few years ago I watched with frustration while Acton Parish Council tried to spend funds provided for this purpose by developers under agreements attached to planning consents (Section 106 agreements).   The spending criteria set by Babergh had been drawn so tightly however that this proved impossible, and as a result today our parish has over £13,000 allocated to it that in the past it may well have found difficult to spend.

This pattern has been replicated across the whole Babergh area, and the astonishing fact is that as a result of what might be seen as over-zealous interpretation of the rules, out of some £800,000 paid out by developers, around £500,000 remains unspent!

Despite repeated calls from parishes, and some District Councillors, for the rules to be relaxed, little sign of movement has been seen since the inception of the scheme in 2008.   There was some small tinkering at the edges a few years ago, but this did little to improve the situation.

Recently however Babergh noticed that our best friends, Mid Suffolk District Council, had less restrictive rules in this area.

Moreover, in addition to wishing to walk in step with our partners to the North, the powers that be may have been spurred on by a renewed sense of enthusiasm for economic growth, as spelt out in the recently adopted Core Strategy.  The prospect of increased funding for communities might, it is hoped, soften the blow for those tempted to resist unwanted or inappropriate housing development.  It is amazing how that New Homes Bonus, payable to the council on every new property built,  has once again managed to move the conscience of the most hardened stickler for the letter, rather than the spirit, of bureaucratic regulation.

Whatever the reasons behind the move, the decision of the Strategy Committee significantly to relax the rules must be seen as a victory for common sense.  Leaving the money in the bank, or being obliged to return them unspent to developers,  cannot be preferable to providing much needed community facilities.