Section 106 Implications on residents

[Poppydaisy]

My problem is the public road (an absolutely normal road, in Blackpool) on which my house resides. It is being converted into a car park under an s106 agreement between the Blackpool Borough Council and the developer of 99 flats by way of a hotel conversion. The hotel is on the promenade and the street in question is perpendicular to the promenade and is just the same as 99.99% of the roads in Blackpool.



My question is, are the council allowed take a normal public highway and lease it to a developer so the 99 flats will have a place to park by way of changing the street layout? (The lease lasts for 5 years.)



I ask this question, as my house is the only home on the street, the rest are old hotels. It is looking like I will lose all my right to park on the road and as my house is a corner house, the other road corner road has double yellow lines.



I have lived at this property for 22 years and paid £60,000 in council tax. It appears totally unfair that the council can lease an existing road to a developer to make a commercial gain by enabling them to offer parking spaces to the detriment of long standing council tax residents.



Are they within their rights?

[GoodOldBoy]

My question is, are the council allowed take a normal public highway and lease it to a developer so the 99 flats will have a place to park by way of changing the street layout? (The lease lasts for 5 years.)

Are they within their rights?

S.106 agreements are a way of forcing a developer to make contributions to the local community. Usually these are by way of payments the developer must make to support/improve the local infrastructure. Often developers see them as a penalty. A Section106 rarely (if ever) is to the benefit of the developer. It is a condition imposed by the Council.

It seems likely to me that converting a road to a carpark is viewed (by the council) as a general improvement to the area. If there is already free parking on the road (but insufficient for the new development) I very much doubt the developer would be able to levy a parking charge to (or exclude) existing users.

Presumably, the Council will apply for a stopping-up order on the road and this would have to be done through a Magistrates Court. You would be able to make your case there but be warned, the Council rarely fail to get such orders passed. You would need a lot of knowledge of the 1990 Town and Country Planning Actand the 1980 Highways Act to get anywhere.

What the council is doing seems perfectly legal to me. It is (I assume) an adopted road so it is owned by the Council.

[des8]

Speak to your local councillor, tell him of your concerns and ask him to obtain an undertaking that you retain free parking within the redevelopment

[GoodOldBoy]

Speak to your local councillor, tell him of your concerns and ask him to obtain an undertaking that you retain free parking within the redevelopment

Certainly worth a try, particularly if your neighbours join you but you may be too late as planning permission must have already been granted if a S.106 has been issued.