The Department for Communities and Local Government has issued a consultation paper on its proposal to reduce the time that must pass before a landowner can require the local planning authority (LPA) to reconsider a planning obligation entered into under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
Currently, if a planning obligation is entered into after 25 October 1991, it may only be modified or discharged (1) through an agreement between the LPA and the person(s) against whom it is enforceable, or (2) in accordance with sections 106A and 106B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which provide a procedure that can be used to modify or discharge planning obligations entered into after 25 October 1991 without the agreement of the LPA. The person(s) against whom a planning obligation is enforceable may, at any time after five years from the date upon which the planning obligation was entered into, apply for it to be modified or discharged.
The consultation paper sets out the Government’s proposal for allowing those who own land affected by planning obligations to apply for changes to those obligations without having to wait the current five years.
The Government proposes that the person(s) against whom the planning obligation is enforceable will be able to apply for the obligation to be discharged or modified under section 106A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 at any time, one month after the introduction of new regulations. However, this will only apply to planning obligations entered into on, or before, 6 April 2010. For planning obligations entered into after that date, the current five year waiting period will remain.
The consultation also proposes simplifying the requirements for all applications under section 106A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. An application will no longer have to be made on a form provided by the LPA, and the applicant will be obliged only to supply enough information for the LPA to determine the application. Currently, an applicant must supply all of the information specified in regulation 3 of the Town and Country Planning (Modification and Discharge of Planning Obligations) Regulations 1992, even if some of it is irrelevant to the application.
The proposed changes will only apply to England.
Responses to the consultation must be made before 8 October 2012. The Government will publish a summary of responses to the consultation within three months of the closing date, with new regulations expected to be laid before Parliament shortly after.
