Planning obligations are a development from the power first given to local planning authorities by s 34 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1932 to enter into planning agreements with landowners for regulating the development or use of their land. From that Act, the power found its way into the Town and Country Planning Act 1947; and thence into the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 as s 52. On the consolidation of planning legislation in 1990, s 52 of the 1971 Act was replaced by s 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as the new statutory authority for the power to enter into planning agreements. Now, following the passing of the Planning and Compensation Act 1991, the original s 106 of the 1990 Act has been replaced in its entirety by new ss 106, 106A, and 106B which have been inserted into the 1990 Act in its place. The replacement sections also introduced new arrangements and new terminology. From 25 October 1991, the power to enter into a ‘planning agreement’ under the 1990 Act was repealed and replaced by the power to enter into a ‘planning obligation’.
