Chapter 4: S106 Report

4.1       The following sets out S106 monies received in 2023/24 

4.2     The following schemes have secured approximately 300 affordable housing dwellings through planning obligations entered in to during 23/24: 

• 22/10449 - Corks Farm, Marchwood - outline application, approximately 52/53 affordable dwellings
• 21/11179 - Land to the East of Brockhills Lane, New Milton - 82 affordable dwellings
• 21/11237 - Land West of Burgate, Salisbury Road, Fordingbridge - 82 affordable dwellings
• 22/10813 - Orchard Gate, Noads Way, Diden Purlieu - 3 affordable dwellings
• 21/11097 - Land south of Derritt Lane, Sopley - 30 affordable dwellings
• 21/11731 - SS9 Land east of Everton Rd, Hordle - 49 affordable dwellings

4.3     Annex 2 of this statement sets out the specific details of which financial contributions secured from new development were spent during the financial year 2023/24 and on what purpose. 

4.4     S106 monies can only be spent on the specific purpose for which they are collected.  For this Council, this predominantly falls into 6 areas with total spend for this financial period being:

• Open Space (£190,015.84)
• Open Space Maintenance (£41,644.90)
• Transportation and associated drainage (£10,000)
• Habitat Mitigation (£945,614.03)
• Air Quality (£14,849.42)
• Specific monitoring contributions (£64,829.96)

4.5      Below is further information on the projects themselves by infrastructure type.   

Habitat Mitigation  

Mitigation relating to the New Forest SPA  

4.6     The New Forest Special Protection Area (SPA) comprises a complex mosaic of habitats overlying mainly nutrient-poor soils over plateau gravels. The major components are the extensive wet and dry heaths with their rich valley mires and associated wet and dry grasslands, the ancient pasture woodlands and enclosure woodlands, the network of clean rivers and streams, and frequent permanent and temporary ponds.   

4.7     The Footprint Ecology Report "Changing patterns of visitor numbers within the New Forest" (2008) emphasised the need to tailor a package of mitigation measures to the unique nature of the New Forest and its visitor patterns. However, it also points out that, the large area of land, existing expertise in access management, and an infrastructure already geared to cope with large numbers of visitors provide a good starting point.  

4.8     It concludes that the visitors who are likely to be the easiest to divert from the New Forest are those who do not stay overnight and that potential alternative greenspaces need to be located closer to development areas than the sensitive site to be protected. Sites to attract dog walkers should provide safe off-road parking, a range of routes, and be in locations perceived to maximise enjoyment of the dog.  

4.9     The Council's mitigation strategy identifies four key strands to providing mitigation namely:   

• Provision of alternative natural recreational greenspace on new developments over 50 net additional dwellings  
• Provision of off-site recreation mitigation projects for new developments of less than 50 dwellings  
• Access and Visitor Management   
• Monitoring   

The use of developer contributions towards the New Forest mitigation strategy   

4.10  All residential development is required to contribute towards mitigation in the New Forest against each strand.  On the 5 May 2021 a revised mitigation strategy was adopted which amended the financial contributions payable.  These figures increase annually each April in line with inflation using the retail price index. 

4.11  Physical projects are mostly funded through CIL, with monitoring and access management funded through contributions collected via S106 agreements.  Should a development not pay CIL (either by not creating floorspace or having successfully applied for relief) then the infrastructure project element is collected via a S106 contribution. 

4.12  Whilst CIL is the likely source of funding for these projects, the first call is via S106 monies specifically earmarked for this use and collected from those developments as highlighted in the paragraph above. During the monitoring period, the total spend was less than the amount of S106 funds specifically held for recreational mitigation projects and therefore these funds were utilised.  These projects are listed in the subsequent paragraphs.

4.13  Over the course of 23/24 a number of projects reached detailed design stages and/or started on site as follows: 

Hythe

Oaklands Way / Challenger Way - walking route improvements

4.14  Enhancement and promotion of walking routes through woodland and residential areas. Installation of interpretation boards and signage to promote the route.

Lymington

Woodside Park - Access and Open Space Enhancement Works

4.15  Improved route marking and interpretation of walking routes in and around Woodside Gardens to encourage informal recreation. New signage from surrounding residential areas. New signage from surrounding residential areas. Improve signage to and along the public rights of way network in surrounding area.

Grove Gardens - Improved signage and Open Space Enhancement Works

4.16  Signage to encourage use of Grove Gardens and connections to local facilities.

Withy Woods - Phase 1 - Access and Open Space Enhancement Works

4.17  Improvements to the path network to provide year-round dry access. Environmental improvements within the site to enhance biodiversity. The project has been divided into two phases. 

Pennington - walking route improvements

4.18  Promotion and enhancement of the public rights of way including the installation of interpretation boards and improved accessibility.

New Milton

Carrick Way Woodland - Access and Open Space Enhancement Works

4.19  Enhance/improve public access to the site, including the provision of information/interpretation signs, and the provision of a surfaced footpath route. Increase signage to location of walk, particularly from Carrick Way. Clearance of overhanging vegetation.

Ashington Park - Access and Open Space Enhancement Works

4.20  Path improvement and circular route with signage and waste bins.

Totton

Bartley Park extension - Access and Open Space Enhancement Works

4.21  Bartley Park extended to include the area of land south of the skateboard park. This extension provides additional natural green space for informal recreation, including dog exercise, a timber boardwalk,  and enhancements to biodiversity.  Access to Ashurst Bridge Road to also be provided.

Bartley Park - walking route improvements to existing park area

4.22  Improvements to selected paths to provide year-round dry routes to increase use and attract dog walkers.

Testwood Recreation Ground Phase 1 - Access and Open Space Enhancement Works

4.23  Initial phase for the western end of the recreation ground, to provide informal open space enhancements, including improved signage and interpretation to create a recreational walking route linking through to adjoining public open spaces. Natural planting and biodiversity improvements to also be provided.

King George's Recreation Ground - New pedestrian bridge

4.24  Installation of new pedestrian bridge across existing watercourse to improve links between adjacent residential area and the recreation ground. Selection of appropriate construction materials for the proposed bridge are being considered.

Access and Visitor Management  

4.25  To reduce the potentially harmful recreational impacts from visitors to the New Forest, the Council continues to employ a 'People and Wildlife' Ranger role.  The role is hosted by the New Forest National Park Authority and in 2023/24 the cost of this role was £44,250.  The key objectives of the role are to:  

• encourage activities to take place outside of the parts of the New Forest designated as Special Protection Areas/Special Areas of Conservation;   
• divert visits from European sites   
• modify visitor behaviour relating to the protected European sites   
• improve understanding of impacts and refinement of mitigation measures.   

Monitoring  

4.26  The Council has been monitoring the use of areas identified for projects for mitigation works to measure their effectiveness in absorbing recreational activities, particularly walking and dog-walking. Counters to monitor people movements are positioned at entry points to these areas for approximately 2 months. These are placed on, or near to, a site before work begins on a project to set the 'baseline' position. Counters are then returned to the same places at the same time of year, initially, two years later when the project has been implemented, to give some comparative data.  

4.27  The Council currently owns 9 counters with 3 additional counters purchased during the monitoring period. A charge is paid each year to a third party to facilitate the movement of the counters together with their annual maintenance.    

Mitigation relating to the Solent and Southampton Water SPA  

4.28  The Solent is internationally important for its wildlife and three Special Protection Areas (SPAs) have been designated by the Government to protect over-wintering birds which are protected under national and international law.  

4.29  Research undertaken during 2009 - 2013 assessed the impact of recreational activity on wintering birds on the Solent. The research highlighted that planned new housing in southern Hampshire and Chichester District would result in a large increase in coastal visits, with a likely impact on the birds unless mitigation measures were put in place. The research showed that mitigation would be required from all new dwellings built within 5.6 kilometres of the boundaries of the SPAs (this is the zone from which 75% of coastal visits originate within). Planning authorities must therefore ensure that necessary mitigation measures are in place before they grant permission for new development.   

4.30  The Solent Recreation Mitigation Partnership was established to co-ordinate the use of developer contributions from planning authorities to fund strategic mitigation measures. Now known as 'Bird Aware Solent', the partnership comprises the fifteen Solent local planning authorities, Natural England, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and Chichester Harbour Conservancy. Governance is provided by the Joint Committee of the Partnership for South Hampshire (PfSH) with the involvement of the representatives of the non-PfSH authorities.  

4.31  Based on the research undertaken, the Solent Recreation Mitigation Strategy sets out a package of agreed mitigation measures to ensure that new residential development does not impact on the integrity of the Solent's protected sites. The Strategy enables a developer within the 5.6km catchment area to opt into the scheme and make a financial contribution towards the strategic mitigation of recreational pressures. Developer contributions are pooled from across the fifteen planning authorities to fund a range of strategic habitat mitigation measures. Developers also have the option of providing their own mitigation if they have the ability to do so, but it is usually simpler, quicker and less costly to make a contribution towards the joint Strategy.  

The use of developer contributions towards the Solent Recreational Mitigation Strategy (SRMP)   

4.32  Developer contributions are paid to the local planning authorities from new residential and visitor accommodation development and it is a decision for each authority which legal mechanism is used to secure the contributions. The contributions are transferred quarterly to the partnership, where they are pooled to implement mitigation measures.  

4.33   During 2023/24 period, £53,617.27 was transferred to the partnership.  

Open Space  

4.34  During the 23/24 period, £190,015.84 was spent on open space contributions to deliver enhanced open space.  This was spent as follows:

• Shore Road Basketball Facility, Hythe (£5,000)
• Padding pool enhancements, Totton (£74,415)
• Additional seating, Totton (£6,678)
• Civic Centre works, Totton (£14,397.15)
• All weather playing pitch (4G) at Burgate School (£92,525.69)

4.35     Whilst S106 monies will be used to fund this project in total (with the total amount agreed in the specific legal agreements), at this time the full total funds required had not been received, therefore an additional £157,474.31 from CIL has been forward funded to cover this in the interim.

Transportation  

4.36  Hampshire County Council (HCC) are the Local Highway Authority for the area, and they are largely responsible for implementing highways improvements, some of which will be funded via S106 monies.  

4.37  The Council have engaged with HCC to bring forward a number of local transportation schemes for which money is currently allocated.  It is envisaged these will be progressed during the next monitoring period.