Agendas and papers for June 09’s meetings are gradually appearing on Bristol City Council’s website. Looking back at the papers from June 3rd’s Development Control (South and East) Committee, this includes a summary of last year’s receipts from Section 106 agreements, which were £6.3 million, or about 2% of the council’s annual spending.
Section 106, you may recall, is a tax that you pay to the local government for land development. You may not know that you pay it, as land developers wrap up their contributions in the cost of their activity, from whence businesses cost it into the sale price of their goods or services, which you then pay for with VAT added on top. Don’t believe the people who say it’s a tax on developers – like all taxes the ultimate incidence falls on the individual.
Town Planning is one of those necessary evils of modern life. Depending on your view it exists to protect the value of citizens’ property, to see that land is used efficiently, or even to reengineer society and redistribute money.
In good times, when demand for land is high and eager investors are seeking a return on their money, then the Planner is master of all s/he surveys with the power to make or break a development. But what about today, when the economy is weighed down with public and private debt?
There are thousands of empty buildings in Bristol, and if one walks along any of the commercial thoroughfares one will see empty shop fronts and ageing “To Let” signs. Near my home, Glos’ter Road, Whiteladies Road (pictures above and below: ABC Picture House) and Queens Road all have empty buildings.
View Larger Map There would be more enterprise, more housing and more opportunity in the City if we were a bit more relaxed about zoning. I know a property or two that would be productively used right now for the sake of a minor change of use from A1 (shops) to A2 (Financial & Professional services), let alone something more radical.
Use Classes (Town & Country Planning Act 2005)
| A1 (Shops) | • Retail sale of goods to the public -Shops, Post
Offices, Travel Agencies & Ticket Agencies, Funeral Director & Undertakers, Hairdressers, Domestic Hire Shops, Dry Cleaners.
• Sandwich Bars (sandwiches or other cold food purchased and consumed off the premises) & Internet Cafes. |
| A2 Financial &
Professional
Services | • Financial Services – Banks, Building Societies and Bureau de Change.
• Professional Services (not Health or Medical
Services) – Estate Agents & Employment Agencies.
• Other Services – Betting Shops.
(Principally where services are provided to visiting members of the public) |
| A3 Restaurants & Cafes | • Restaurants and Cafes – Use for the sale of food for consumption on the premises.
(Other than Internet Cafes – see A1) |
| A4 Drinking
Establishments | • Use as a Public House, Wine-Bar or other Drinking Establishment. |
| A5 Hot Food
Takeaway | • Use for the sale of hot food for consumption off the premises. |
| B1 Business | • Offices other than in a use with Class A2.
• Research and Development – Laboratories and
Studios.
• Light Industry. |
| B2 General Industrial | • General Industry (unless in B1). |
| B8 Storage or
Distribution | • Storage or Distribution Centres – Wholesale Warehouses, Distribution Centres & Repositories. |
| C1 Hotels | • Hotels, Guest Houses & Boarding Houses.
(Only where no significant element of care is provided). |
| C2 Residential
Institutions | • Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Residential Education & Training Centres.
(For the provision of residential accommodation and care to people in need of care). |
| C3 Dwellings | • Dwellings for individuals, families or not more than six people living together as a single household.
• Not more than six people living together includes – students or young people sharing a dwelling and small group homes for disabled or handicapped people living in the community. |
| D1 Non-Residential
Institutions | • Medical & Health Services – Clinics & Health
Centres, Crech, Day Nursery, Day Centres &
Consulting Rooms (not attached to the Consultant’s or Doctor’s house)
• Museums, Public Libraries, Art Galleries, Exhibition Halls
• Non-Residential Education & Training Centres
• Places of Worship, Religious Instruction & Church Halls. |
| D2 Assembly &
Leisure | • Cinemas, Dance and Concert Halls, Bingo Halls & Casinos.
• Sports Halls, Swimming Baths, Skating Rinks,
Gymnasiums.
• Other Indoor & Outdoor Sports & Leisure Uses not involving motorised vehicles or firearms. |
| Sui Generis | “of itself” – whatever you can get away with. |
