What are Developer Contributions?
When developments take place, they frequently bring with them impacts on the local physical and social infrastructure and services, which must be addressed to ensure that the development is sustainable. Where development is proposed, the County Council seeks to ensure that developers contribute towards the cost of providing appropriate infrastructure and services to support their development.
Developer contributions will generally be provided through a planning obligation, secured through the means of a legal deed called a Section 106 Agreement, and usually attached to a grant of planning permission. Planning obligations are used to mitigate any adverse impacts of development and to make a given development proposal acceptable in planning terms. They can be provided by means of a financial payment or as a physical contribution, where the developer directly provides the infrastructure necessary to fulfil the obligation. Developer contributions may also be provided through the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), where this is charged by the District / Borough Council.
Nottinghamshire will continue to grow over the coming years and to meet the challenges and opportunities this presents, the County Council maintains a Developer Contributions Strategy setting out how developers will be expected to contribute towards the necessary and proper provision of infrastructure and services relating to County Council functions.
Within Nottinghamshire (excluding Nottingham City which is a Unitary Authority), a two-tier system of local government applies. The County Council is responsible for the provision of certain services, such as Education, Highways and Transport, Libraries, and Waste Disposal. The district and borough councils are the Local Planning Authority (LPA) for the vast majority of planning applications and are ultimately responsible for granting planning consents and deciding what requirements should be placed upon a developer through planning conditions and planning obligations.
