Developers pay out £25m over five years
Developers in Bath and North East Somerset have paid out nearly £25million in the past five years to mitigate the impact of their projects. Some £7.3million of that is not yet allocated to a project but, unlike other authorities, Bath and North East Somerset Council has barely repaid a penny. The payments come in the form of section 106 agreements, a levy on developers agreed when their planning applications are approved to make proposals more acceptable. The deals can secure affordable housing, funding for schools, or mitigate the impact of a development, such as the loss of open space or better public transport. The funding stream has partly been replaced by the community interest levy. A Freedom of Information request showed B&NES Council has clocked up £24.7million in section 106 payments since 2013. Of that, £9.8million has been allocated to projects but has not yet been spent. Councillor Bob Goodman, cabinet member for development and neighbourhoods, said: “Section 106 monies go considerably towards building schools and other assets that help the community. It’s an essential part of the finances for local government. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to do many of the projects.” Payments sometimes remain unallocated when they relate to specific types of infrastructure, which means the council needs to collect a number of contributions to have a usable sum. Some authorities regularly agree “claw-back clauses” that force them to repay unspent money after a given length of time. In the last five years B&NES Council has only returned £5,000 to a developer, after the parking restrictions it was meant to pay for were included in a wider review.