Chichester council forced to pay £25,000 back to developer over missed deadline

Cllr Simon Oakley, a county and district councillor, will demand to know why West Sussex County Council failed to commence work on the shelter at Farr Fields in Swanfield Drive at a meeting this Friday.

The development of 54 houses was completed a number of years ago after receiving planning permission in 2000.

As part of the planning, developer Beazer Homes Ltd paid CDC £25,000 for a Section 106 Agreement to build a bus shelter.

However, because it was said to have taken WSCC longer than five years to built it, the money is now understood to be owed back to Beazer Homes Ltd.

At Friday’s full WSCC meeting Mr Oakley, WSCC councillor for Chichester East Division and district councillor for Tangmere, will ask: “As part of CDC Application No. 00/01073/FUL, £25,000 was obtained via covenant with both WSCC and CDC as part of the accompanying Section 106 Agreement toward the provision of a bus shelter.

“The funds were paid to CDC in two tranches in 2001 and 2008.

“Apparently it was not until 2013, after the five-year hand back point, that WSCC commenced work on the process toward providing the shelter.

“Could it be explained why no shelter was provided within the five year agreement period, resulting in this £25,000 S106 contribution, potentially with interest, being handed back to the developer?”

Cllr Oakley will also ask how much more Section 106 money has had to be handed back.

“This is not the first time that WSCC has been involved in processes resulting in handing back S106 monies in Chichester,” Cllr Oakley will say.

“Are any other S106 contributions associated with WSCC requirements being held beyond their hand back date and if so what are they?”

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