High Peak Borough Council has lost over £71,000 to Seddon Homes after it failed to spend money allocated under a Section 106 agreement.
Under a Section 106 agreement, planning permission is granted to a developer provided that they meet certain conditions to mitigate the impact of their development.
Seddon Homes made three separate payments to High Peak Borough Council to the value of £5,000, £31,454.99, and £40,192.49 as part of two Section 106 agreements for developments in Chapel-en-le-Frith.
£5,000 was paid to Derbyshire County Council to develop and monitor a plan for traffic in the area. Of the remaining £71,647.48 intended to improve local parks and play areas, High Peak Borough Council spent just £1,200 on plans to redevelop the Memorial Park in the town.
As the remainder of Seddon Homes’ funds were not spent by a date specified in the original agreement, High Peak Borough Council must now return any unspent funds with interest. It is not yet clear how much the Council owe with interest, or whether the Council had developed a plan to spend the remaining funds.
Local MP Robert Largan has submitted a Freedom of Information request and demanded an urgent meeting to discuss the situation.
This follows High Peak Borough Council’s failure to submit a bid in the first round of funding of the Levelling Up Fund and failure to win their bid in the second; failure to bid for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund to improve households’ energy efficiency; and £10 million purchase of The Springs Shopping Centre in Buxton.
In the latest meeting of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund Board in High Peak, the Leader of the Council, Councillor Anthony Mckeown also admitted that the Council had failed to spend High Peak’s allocation before the initial deadline.
Councillor Nigel Gourlay, County Councillor for Chapel & Hope Valley, commented:
“This money should have been spent on improving children’s playparks in Chapel, so it’s shameful that the Labour Council is paying it back to property developers because of a missed deadline.
“When we raised concerns, we were told to stop rocking the boat. Well, now the developers can buy themselves luxury cars with their unexpected windfall from Labour. It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about it."
Robert Largan, MP for High Peak, commented:
“Residents will rightly be furious at the grotesque chaos of a Labour Council being forced to hand over large sums of money to a housing developer due to their own incompetence.
“This is valuable money which should have been used to improve local play areas and parks. Instead, local taxpayers might now be on the hook to make interest payments to developers.
“The people of High Peak simply cannot afford this incompetent Labour Council. We need change at the Town Hall and a Council that’s prepared to put residents first.”
