Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council

In considering any planning applications for development, the Council must assess whether the development complies with the policies of this Plan. If the development does comply with the policies of this Plan, planning permission will in most cases be granted. If the development would not comply with the policies, the Council will firstly consider whether any harm likely to be caused can be alleviated through the use of planning conditions (see glossary). Guidance on the use of planning conditions is set down in DETR Circular 11/95 “The use of conditions in planning permissions”. If any harm associated with a development cannot be mitigated by the use of a condition, the Council will then consider whether a planning agreement can be used to offset the harm (as an alternative to refusing permission).

Agreements can be positive, requiring a developer to do a specific thing, or negative - restricting a party to the agreement or his successors from developing or using the land in a specified way. Agreements must be directly related to the development and to the UDP policies and proposals for the area. Agreements may require provision of a specific community benefit or facility, and/or a financial contribution towards the provision of such a benefit by the Council.

Developers will only be liable to enter into planning agreements where their development would not otherwise (with the use of any conditions which may be necessary) comply with the policies of this Plan. In practical terms, agreements are unlikely to be necessary for most minor developments such as extensions or alteration to existing buildings.

The content of agreements (for example the size of any financial contributions that are required) will be the subject of negotiation between the Council and the prospective developer. The scale and kind of benefit sought will always be related reasonably to the needs likely to be generated by the development.

In the case of planning agreements requiring a financial contribution towards a community benefit, payment will be made into specific funds managed by the Council for achieving the requirements of the policies of the UDP.

The list in Table 14.1, which is not exhaustive, indicates what types of obligation the Council is most commonly likely to seek from developers.

Measures or funding provision likely to be sought through planning agreements with developers
*Chapter Area*	*Measures or funding provision likely to be sought:*
Chapter 5 “Housing”	• Phasing of large housing sites.
Chapter 6 “Economic	• Use of local labour in new development proposals.
Chapter 7 “Town Centres and Shopping”	• Provision of car parking for use by the public. • Funding of town centre improvements such as improved CCTV provision, landscaping, paving and street furniture. • Improvements to community buildings such as libraries, community centres or health centres. • Management and promotion of town centres.
Chapter 8 “Transport”	• Improvements to public transport system infrastructure, highways, cycleways and/or pedestrian routes – see policies T2, T5, T6, T7 and T9.
Chapter 9 “Green Belt and the Rural Economy”	• Off-site landscape enhancements – see policy G2.
Chapter 10 “Urban Greenspace, Sport and Recreation”	• Provision and maintenance of areas of greenspace or landscaping principally of benefit to the development – see policy OS5. • Improvements to and provision of community buildings and greenspaces for recreational, leisure, sporting or educational purposes – see policy OS6. • To secure community use of sporting or educational facilities.
Chapter 11 “Development Quality and the Built Environment”	• Provision of an acceptable balance and phasing of uses in mixed-use developments. • Provision of art or sculpture in public places. • Funding of off site compensatory tree planting – see policy DQ4. • Conservation of buildings, structures and places of historic or architectural or archaeological interest – see policies DQ5 to DQ9.
Chapter 12 “Minerals, Waste and Energy”	• Provision of recycling facilities.
Chapter 13 “Environmental Protection and Nature Conservation”	• Off site mitigation measures needed to prevent harm from pollution or other environmental risks (e.g. noise control bunds, flood prevention measures) – see policies ENV1 to ENV7. • Provision of mitigation measures where a development would damage a natural habitat, geological site, or important species – see policies ENV9 and 10.

Under the terms of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, planning agreements will be replaced by “planning contributions”. Local authorities will be able to ask developers to make payments or other contributions, either through a pre-set “planning charge”, the details of which will need to be published beforehand by the Council, or through agreements which are specifically negotiated for particular cases. The Act introduces new legal duties for local authorities to identify (in a Development Plan Document) various matters including the types of development for which they will consider, or not consider, accepting a planning contribution, and the basis on which the value of contributions will be calculated. The relevant part of the new Act has yet to be commenced, and detailed Regulations concerning its operation have yet to be made. The policy guidance set down in this chapter should therefore be viewed as interim pending the introduction of the new system of planning contributions. Following the commencement of the new Act, the Council will set down its policy on the use of contributions in a future Development Plan Document for Knowsley.