Section 75 Update Report - August 26
Renfrewshire Council · 25 August 2026
Back to Planning and Climate Change Policy Board — 25 August 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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PUBLIC ___________________________________________________________________ To: Planning and Climate Change Policy Board On: 25 August 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Section 75 Agreements - Update ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 This report seeks to provide an update in respect of Section 75 (S75) agreements which are currently being negotiated by officers following a decision being made in relation to the respective planning application. 1.2 S75 agreements secure planning obligations which seek to mitigate the impacts of a proposed development and make it acceptable in planning terms. They can be used to secure financial contributions to, or in-kind provision of, necessary new social and community infrastructure to support new developments. ________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that the Board: (i) Note the ongoing negotiations which are taking place in respect of securing planning obligations which will be secured by a Section 75 agreement, in accordance with Section 75 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997. ___________________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 Planning obligations seek to mitigate the impacts of a proposed development and make it acceptable in planning terms. They can be used to secure financial contributions to, or in-kind provision of, necessary new social and community infrastructure to support new developments.
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PUBLIC 3.2 Obligations are usually entered into in accordance with Section 75 of Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, as amended, and are commonly referred to as S75 Agreements. They are often used where a planning condition or another form of legal agreement would not be appropriate to address the impact of the development in question. 3.3 Planning obligations can be entered into between a person with an interest in the land and the planning authority; or via a unilateral undertaking by a person with an interest in the land. S75 agreements run with the land and the obligation continues to be enforceable against any subsequent owner of the land until such time as the details of the agreement are fully discharged by the local planning authority. 3.4 Scottish Government’s policy on Planning Obligations is expressed in Circular 3/2012 (Planning Obligations and Good Neighbour Agreements - Revised 2020). The Circular sets out five tests which must be met when seeking to secure a planning obligation: ▪ Necessary to make a proposal acceptable in planning terms (and overcome a barrier to the approval of planning permission); ▪ Serve a planning purpose where it is possible to identify infrastructure provision requirements to advance, should relate to development plans; ▪ Be related to the proposed development either as a direct consequence of it or arising from the cumulative impact of development in an area; ▪ Fairly and reasonably relate in scale and kind to the proposed development (provide or contribute to the provision of infrastructure that would not be necessary were it not for the development, on a proportionate pro-rata basis as appropriate, but not to resolve existing deficiencies); and ▪ Be reasonable in all other respects. 3.5 A number of planning applications have been approved subject to a Section 75 agreement being put in place. For information, it should be noted that planning consent is not issued until such times as the Section 75 agreement has been signed and registered as required. 3.6 Further to the report considered at the March 2024 meeting of the Planning and Climate Change Policy Board, no new applications have been granted subject to a Section 75 agreement, while those that have been previously approved subject to an agreement have not yet been concluded. 3.7 In light of the above, the following application is currently subject to Section 75 negotiations: 23/0161/PP: Section 42 application to vary wording of condition 5 of Planning Permission in Principle 18/0638/PP with respect to Flood Risk Assessment requirement at land to south of St. James Interchange, Burnside Place, Paisley
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PUBLIC 3.8 The above planning application is currently under consideration and as such officers are minded to approve the application subject to conditions and an appropriate legal agreement to secure a financial contribution in respect of education provision. 3.9 Officers are currently in discussions to secure the aforementioned obligations. Thereafter once agreed and recorded the decision notice in relation to the planning application will be issued. ___________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – Should the S75 agreements be signed and registered planning consent will be issued and thereafter any financial contributions will require to be paid to the Council in line with the respective agreement. Payments received would then be released to the appropriate service as required to meet the obligations set out in the associated legal agreement or returned to the applicant where applicable. 2. HR & Organisational Development – None. 3. Community/Council Planning – None. 4. Legal – S75 agreements require to be negotiated in line decision made at the respective board meeting and thereafter registered as appropriate following agreement and signing. Thereafter obligations will require to be discharged or varied where appropriate when monies have been spent or returned. 5. Property/Assets - None 6. Information Technology - None 7. Equality & Human Rights - The Recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report. If required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of the assessment will be published on the Council’s website. 8. Health & Safety - None 9. Procurement - None 10. Risk - None 11. Privacy Impact – None 12. COSLA Policy Position - None.
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PUBLIC 13. Climate Risk – None. 14. Children’s Rights - None ___________________________________________________________________ Author: David Love, Chief Planning Officer Tel: 07483410182; Email: david.love@renfrewshire.gov.uk