Brentwood has yet to spend millions to improve its community
These include funds to improve park facilities and funds to support housing programs.
Mark Haigh, a member of the council’s audit committee, said some of the donations were years old and their relative value declined over time, even though they weren’t used. I am expressing concern about doing so.
Planning obligations, or Section 106 contracts, are legal terms attached to planning permits that can include affordable housing, green space offerings, and cash donations to help mitigate development.
Of the total, £1.8m has been allocated to the Strategic Housing Supply Program (SHDP) and is included in Brentwood Borough Council’s seven-year supply programme.
A further £323,000 was allocated for various open space capital schemes and a further £348,000 for income costs for the ongoing maintenance of the land.
The total for the most historic capital s106 is £40,000 out of a £48,000 donation received from the developers of Brentwood Community Hospital in 2011.
This will be used to bring the woodlands behind the original Blood Bank site on Wolin Road and Crescent Drive in Shenfield into controlled condition.
The latest is a £145,000 donation, of which £60,000 remains from Wally’s Ford office development. This is Open Space’s contribution towards improving neighborhood park facilities.
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Most valuable is the £935,000 contribution from the development of a former mounting scrap yard to 85 homes that must be allocated to SHDP by 2024.
Brentwood Borough Council strategy director Steve Summers told the council’s audit committee on March 7: Legal agreements have triggers.
“In some cases, certainly in large cases, it may take years for those conditions to be triggered. They are all in agreement, so there is no simple answer.”
https://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/23374242.brentwood-yet-spend-millions-aimed-improve-community/?ref=rss Brentwood has yet to spend millions to improve its community