Planning performance agreements in the Craven area

Entering into a PPA may have the following benefits:

• reducing confrontation by working together to find solutions and encouraging positive input from consultees and third parties
• removing externally imposed timescales to give sufficient time to agree changes, improve quality, and meet policy objectives
• identifying and addressing the concerns of the local community early in the process
• increasing satisfaction by ensuring an opportunity for all parties to have their views heard and considered through open and honest dialogue
• increased certainty over the outcome of a proposal before an application is submitted

The PPA will set up a project team and will introduce a project management approach to the handling of development proposals. This will require a significant resource investment from all involved. In order to make this investment worthwhile, rights and responsibilities of all parties must be agreed to demonstrate a clear commitment to joint working.

Our responsibilities:

The strategic manager for planning and regeneration will secure corporate buy in to the project and lead on councillor engagement.

The development control manager will be our lead officer to coordinate the project team, be the primary contact with the developer, ensure delivery of tasks to timetable, and regularly report back to the strategic manager.

We will:

• arrange an inception meeting to agree a joint vision, discuss key issues, and draft an initial project plan
• field the strongest available team to provide consistent professional advice
• agree a detailed project plan setting out key stages and milestones
• arrange and administer further meetings of the project team 
• advise on and facilitate internal and external consultation including with statutory consultees
• advise on community engagement in accordance with the statement of community involvement
• ensure councillor engagement and facilitate the presentation of proposals where appropriate 
• provide details of heads of terms to be included in any section 106 agreements. 
• offer a pre-submission check to ensure a valid application is submitted 

Developer responsibilities:

Good project management is required (from both parties) so that necessary tasks, negotiations, or re-design can take place on time and on an agreed basis.

The developer will:

• field an appropriate team with relevant professional advice
• agree a joint vision for the proposal
• agree a detailed project plan setting out key stages and milestones
• engage in open and collaborative discussions, share relevant information, and allow adequate time for the assessment of proposals
• carry out community consultation in accordance with the statement of community involvement
• submit a valid planning application at the appropriate time, which takes account of the PPA process

Whether or not participants are happy with the outcome of the PPA, it is vital that all interested parties are satisfied that the process was fair and transparent. This is especially important where proposals are controversial, and rather than allow unresolved objections to emerge after an application has been submitted, or risk judicial review after a decision has been reached, the project team must consider how to engage local people and take account of their concerns.

Our standards for consultation and participation are set out in the Statement of Community Involvement. The developer may wish to supplement these arrangements and consult more widely or use a different technique to get a wider view from the community.

Councillors are likely to take the final decision on the merits of any planning application submitted as a result of a PPA. Their participation will be guided by their national code of conduct and our planning code of conduct.

When they consider the application they should have a full understanding of the proposal, be aware of discussions that have taken place, and understand the advice that officers have provided. In order to achieve this it will be important that councillors are appropriately and openly engaged with the PPA in a manner that does not compromise their decision-making responsibilities.

The strategic manager will take responsibility for councillor involvement. This is likely to include interim planning committee reports setting out the key issues that have emerged for information. This will provide the opportunity for councillors to raise questions or seek further information and ensure that the PPA is progressed in a politically aware environment.

Councillors will avoid expressing opinions that could prejudice the final scheme and will not engage privately with developers.

We have recently introduced a policy to formalise our approach to pre application discussions and introduced a fee to recover a portion of the cost of providing advice.

The fee to enter into discussions on the production of full PPAs for large scale major planning applications (as defined in the DCLG PS codes) are set out in the pre-application planning advice guidance notes.

Subject to the outcomes from the DCLG November 2012 consultation document ‘planning performance and the planning guarantee’ consultation the strategic manager for planning and regeneration will also consider entering into very simple PPA’s (that set out a clear and agreed timescale for determining an application) for small scale major planning applications (as defined in the DCLG PS codes). The charge for pre-application discussions that would result in the production of a PPA in these circumstances is dependent on the category that the development proposal falls within in our pre-application planning advice guidance notes. As with pre-application advice charges, any fee exemptions or reductions will be at the discretion of the strategic manager for planning and regeneration.

If you have a proposal that is likely to be eligible for a PPA, you should initially contact us.