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Draft Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) Public consultation

Introduction and policy background

We are updating the Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) and would like to know your views on the proposed changes. Use this collection of web pages to understand how the SPD may affect you or your planned development. 

The wider council policy context

The two core policies in our Corporate Strategy are to tackle the climate and ecological emergency and to give people a bigger say.

We declared a Climate Emergency in 2019, and an Ecological Emergency in 2020. The Local Plan Partial Update (LPPU) is one of many ways that we can work towards our targets to tackle the Climate and Ecological Emergency, become carbon neutral and protect and enhance biodiversity.

The draft Planning Obligations SPD provides guidance on the implementation of new policies relating to sustainable construction and transport, and biodiversity net gain.

The planning policy context

Planning obligations are legal agreements which are entered into to lessen the impacts of a development proposal. They are sometimes known as Section 106 agreements (based on the Town and Country Planning Act Section)

The Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) is a planning document which explains our approach to securing planning obligations. It also helps us determine the outcome of planning applications. The existing Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Document came into force in 2015 and was partially amended in 2019 in relation to green infrastructure.

We are updating the SPD to take the Local Plan Partial Update (LPPU) into account. The LPPU is currently being examined by an independent Inspector and we expect to adopt this later in 2022. Updates in the draft SPD will also reflect changes in Government guidance and other updates for clarity.