Decision details

The Cabinet had before it a report * from the Director of Place regarding the Annual Infrastructure Funding Statement; The Infrastructure List which the Council was required to maintain for the purposes of identifying those items of infrastructure that it intended to fund, either wholly or partly, through development (developer contributions, also known as Section 106 (S106) agreements).

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Regeneration outlined the contents of the report and provided the following summary:

·       The report related to infrastructure that could be funded partly or wholly by developer contributions.

·       The report identified several types of infrastructure that were necessary to support the delivery of adopted Local Plan.  These had been recorded in a list (the infrastructure list) and divided into three categories of priority; high importance, importance and desirable; based on a combination of strategic importance and a requirement to spend existing funding within a legally specified timescale.  Under each infrastructure type are further details of the required infrastructure item.

·       The list was not exhaustive, it was a live document that continued to evolve.

·       In addition to compulsory reporting the list was a key document in informing future S106 agreements. 

·       The Planning Policy Advisory Group had been asked to consider this list.  No changes had been suggested. 

Consideration was given to:

·       A possible need to have consulted with the Town and Parish Council’s.

·       The List needing to align with the Local Plan.

·       The List was only ever a ‘snapshot’ at one particular time and was therefore out of date quite quickly.

·       There was still a lot of work to do in terms of linking up with the Local Plan and ensuring that all available funds were accessed and used within relevant timescales.

RESOLVED that:

a)    The list of infrastructure (Appendix 1; the Mid Devon Infrastructure List) that the Council intends to fund, either wholly or partly, by developer contributions is approved.

b)    The Infrastructure List will be included within the annual Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS) to be published on the Council’s website by 31^st December 2023.

(Proposed by Cllr S Keable and seconded by Cllr J Lock)

Reason for the decision

The Infrastructure List plays an important role in identifying when developer contributions can be used to assist in the delivery of infrastructure.  It is an easily accessible document that sets out the Council’s priorities for income from development and expenditure. Risk is multi-faceted, but publication of a clear IFS mitigates these by allowing transparency on the utilisation of S106 funds, allows monitoring of measures to be implemented to support planned development and also safeguards against the loss of S106 receipts through the passage of time.

Note: * Report previously circulated.