The Best Guide for the Neston Area

Neston S106 Steering Group

Neston's Section 106 Steering Group was formed in March 2010 to discuss the potential expenditure of funds received as a result of the Sainsbury's development.

Background

Section 106 of The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 forms the statutory basis for planning agreements between a developer and the Local Planning Authority. These agreements can restrict the use of the land in a specified way, and/or require the developer to provide a specific payment to the Local Authority to secure benefits to the local community.

The Section 106 (S106) agreement for the Sainsbury's supermarket in Neston details the payment and other elements of the schedule. The total amount of S106 monies entailed to this project was in the region of £750,000.  Part of this was spent on 'enabling works' for the development, as outlined in Cllr Andy Williams' blog on AboutMyArea here.

This left a sum of £481,200 and it became the responsibility of the Cheshire West and Chester Council Rural Agenda and Market Town Team (R&MT) to steer future expenditure from the pot. The statement in the s106 agreement specifies that the money shall be "held by the Council for the purpose of Town Centre and Environmental improvements and employment of a Town Centre Manager which the Council at its absolute discretion shall decide."

As the Sainsbury's development reached its completion (Dec. 2010), CW&C's R&MT team worked with Neston Town Council, Neston District Chamber of Trade and others to establish a "Section 106 Funding Group."

Members

Membership currently consists of representatives from:

• Cheshire West and Chester Council Members
• Cheshire West and Chester Council Officers
• Neston Town Council Members
• Neston & District Chamber of Trade
• ch64inc
• Neston Community & Youth Centre

Specific individuals attending on behalf of these organisations will vary as elections and other appointments take place. 

The group developed a constitution which determines membership of the group and how decisions will be reached to develop projects. During development, projects are checked against the S106 Agreement. Any projects put forward must fall within a tightly defined geographical area around the original development - i.e. the Town Centre.

In tandem with this, the R&MT team worked with the S106 Group and other stakeholders in the Town and CW&C to develop a Public Realm Design Guide (PRDG) for the Town Centre that would detail potential regeneration schemes to RIBA Stage D. The key driver for the PRDG is to achieve better public realm for the Town Centre and improve the pedestrian experience on the High Street in order to increase footfall and dwell time in the High Street.  Wide public consultation took place as part of this process.

Meetings of the S106 Steering Group are held in public, but are not public meetings.  What this means in practice is that members of the public are welcome to attend, and may speak at the beginning of the meeting on any item on the agenda, for up to 3 minutes, but not exceeding a total of 30 minutes.  If members of the public wish to influence discussions further, they are advised to contact the relevant body in the above list, to channel their opinions on their behalf (e.g. local residents have the choice to contact their local ward councillors on either CW&C or Neston Town Council, or community organisation ch64inc.).

Projects funded so far include:

• Contribution towards new Parking signage for the Town Centre;
• Contribution towards marketing of the Town Centre and Markets;
• Contribution towards the provision of 'Snug' play equipment to be deployed by CAN Group in the Market Square and at local events;
• Contribution towards 'Creating a Destination Brand for Neston.'

The vast majority of the funding remains unspent, pending the outcome of discussions on the PRDG, and additional funding bids.  Most recently, discussions are ongoing about possible changes to the road and pavement configuration at The Cross. 

See also: An alternative plan for the Cross in Neston.

In addition, there is a desire to invest in better quality Market stalls for Neston's Friday Market and potentially engage a Town Centre Manager. These options are currently on hold pending a review of the management of the market and Market Square.

Notes

• It is part of the constitution of the S106 Steering Group that, wherever possible, match funding should be sought for any projects undertaken, in order to maximise the efficacy of the monies.
• The PRDG is available in paper copy at Neston Library.  Further copies are available to members of each of the organisations represented in the Steering Group. 
• A low-res version of the PRDG may be downloaded here.  Please note, some of the illustrations may not be clearly visible.  The high-res version is too large to upload, but discs are available at Neston Library for members of the public to borrow and make their own copies if they wish.

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Comments

Alan S

At 19:55 on 11th June 2012, Alan S commented:

Thank you for this comprehensive and easy-to-understand explanation. I'm sure I'm not the only resident to have wondered what was happening with the Sainsbury's money. This is an invaluable article. Anyone with similar curiosity should read it. Well done.

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