Planning obligations are defined in the Circular as ‘private agreements negotiated between local planning authorities and persons with an interest in a piece of land (or ‘developers’) and intended to make acceptable development which would otherwise be unacceptable in planning terms’ [para B3 of the Circular]

Planning obligations can be used to:

• Prescribe the nature of a development;
• Secure a contribution to compensate for loss or damage created by a development (eg loss of open space or playing fields);or
• Mitigate a development’s impact (eg by requiring expanded or additional community facilities such as sport and recreation provision) [B3]

The five key tests for a planning obligation are that they must be:

• Relevant to planning;
• Necessary to make the proposed development acceptable in planning terms;
• Directly related to the proposed development;
• Fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the proposed development; and
• Reasonable in all other respects [B5].

The Circular gives its advice under the following headings:

The Secretary of State’s policy tests;

• Examples of the use of planning obligations;
• Types of contribution (including maintenance payments and pooled contributions);
• The plan led system; and
• A fast, predicable and accountable system.
  

Click here for details on the implications of the Circular for sport and recreation.