Agenda item

Report PLA863 by the Head of Development and Growth

(To follow)

The Acting Lead Professional introduced Report PLA863 from the Head of Development and Growth in relation to progress being made towards the finalisation of the Section 106 Agreement for the proposed development at Poplar Farm, Grantham.  The report set out the background to the situation as at present, pointing out that since the decision to approve in principle in September 2009 members had been kept aware of the current state of negotiations with regard to the completion of the Section 106 Agreement on a regular basis.  The report set out in detail progress of the Agreement in relation to transport matters, highlighting in particular discussions which had taken place in relation to the delivery of the bridge over the railway, including the threshold at which the bridge was to be provided, "the bridge fund" clause in the Section 106 and the estimated cost of the bridge.  It was considered that there were no grounds to review the earlier decision as the facts upon which the committee's decision were based were fair, reasonable and known and there had not been any material change in circumstances since the decision to approve in 2009.

One matter highlighted during the review was the need for an additional explicit clause to be included in the Section 106 Agreement to ensure that the applicant/developer used their reasonable endeavours to secure an "assignable easement" across the railway land to deliver the bridge.  It had been agreed between the main parties to the agreement that the intent to secure an easement was implied through the proposed development and this section would make it an explicit provision.  Another benefit of this would be that the easement could be assigned to another party and would provide for greater flexibility for the delivery of the bridge in due course.

In conclusion the report noted that there had been a variety of minor amendments to the Section 106 proposed and agreed between the main parties, but the main provisions and principles as reported last year remained unaffected.  It was anticipated that subject to final proof reading and amendment the Section 106 could be signed and permission issued by the Acting Lead Professional, in consultation with the Chairman and Vice Chairman, hopefully before the end of February 2011.

(2.55pm - Councillor Mrs Jalili returned to the meeting).

In conclusion, the Acting Lead Professional referred to a letter which had been recently received from agents acting for the owners of the large site to the west of the Poplar Farm site, in relation to the way in which development on this land was being treated in isolation from the larger allocation of which it formed part.  The owners were concerned to ensure that the outline planning permission and Section 106 for Poplar Farm was not prejudicial to the delivery of the overall development in the north west quadrant and that development of the western element was not adversely affected from both legal and viability perspectives.  Particular concern had been expressed about vehicular access arrangements for this area as a whole, and also that the overall site was brought forward in accordance with the agreed housing trajectory.  In the circumstances the agents felt that the Section 106 should not be finalised until the committee had been advised of the provisions of the agreement including full details of a developer contributions and trigger points to which these contributions related.  They requested that the committee provided a further and more detailed report on the matter and that the Section 106 Agreement was not finalised until the committee had made a further resolution to this effect.

Members discussed and noted the report submitted and letter received.