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The power to enter into planning agreements is contained in Section 75 of the Planning Act. In recent years there has been a vast increase in the use of planning agreements for a variety of purposes. They are commonly used in the following situations: |
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· to require the developer to pay for community infrastructure e.g. roads, schools and other facilities - often referred to as "planning gain".
· to require the restoration of a development e.g. opencast mine, quarry, windfarm.
· to require the developer to commit to a "green transport plan" for their employees.
· controlling the occupancy of houses e.g. requiring a farmhouse to be occupied by an agricultural worker.
Development usually cannot begin until the developer and the planning authority have negotiated the agreement. A planning agreement may be a complex legal document and it is contractually binding not only on the developer and the Council but also on successive owners of the land. Once it is completed a planning agreement may well run in perpetuity and there are currently no rights of appeal against conditions imposed- even by a successor owner. Great care must therefore be taken in the negotiation and completion of planning agreements.
All members of our team are experienced in the drafting and negotiation of complex planning agreements. We are well placed to anticipate and react to the differing viewpoints of the developer and the planning authority.
Recent Experience
· Advising on the planning agreements for a new settlement at Shawfair, Midlothian which will comprise 4,000 houses, business parks, roads, a new railway station and associated community infrastructure.
· Advising on and completing on the planning agreement for a new campus for Queen Margaret University at Craighall, Musselburgh.
· Advising on and completing the planning agreements for major housing sites and provision of a new school campus in Dalkeith, Midlothian.
· Advising on the planning agreement relating to the habitat management plan for Scottish Power's Blacklaw Windfarm, Lanarkshire.
For more information contact Alastair McKie |
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