Legislation, policy and guidance for developers working on the highway

We refer to the documents below when we review planning applications. These documents constitute the parameters and standards to which developments should adhere to in terms of their highway and transport impacts.

• Town and Country Planning Act 1990
• Highways Act 1980
• Traffic Management Act
• New Roads and Street Works Act

• National Planning Policy Framework
• Buckinghamshire Countywide Parking Guidance
• Local Transport Plan 4
• Buckinghamshire Council Planning Policy
• Highways Development Management Guidance

• Inclusive Mobility - A Guide to Best Practice on Access to Pedestrian and Transport Infrastructure
• LTN 2/08 Cycle Infrastructure Design
• Design Manual for Roads and Bridges
• LTN 1/11 Shared
• LTN 1/12 Shared Use Routes for Pedestrians and Cyclists
• Manual for Streets 
• Manual for Streets 2

Buckinghamshire Council has developed a set of transport models to be used as part of a Transport Assessment (TA). They are also used as the common forecasting tool for all transport processes.

These models, in simplistic form, aim to predict what will happen if we change something to the road or transport network in the county.

These models cover Aylesbury Vale, Buckingham, High Wycombe, and Buckinghamshire Countywide.

Due to a growing population, thousands more houses and employment sites will be built over the coming decades. This will create extra pressure to existing roads and increase the need for construction of new roads or other transport infrastructure.

The Buckinghamshire Local Transport Models assists in planning sustainable locations. The models help us understand the impacts of proposed housing growth and infrastructure schemes. They do this through analysis of:

• traffic flows on particular highway links
• link time to determine impacts of congestion
• routing information
• trips for any given year / scenario
• mode, destination and time of day choice

Data is fed into the model, this informs us what will happen. For example, how traffic patterns change if we:

• built a new bypass
• built a new housing / employment site
• make changes to highway infrastructure

Section 106 agreements are legally binding private agreements made between planning authorities and developers. They are termed planning obligations under the 1990 Town & Country Planning Act and are dealt with under section 106 of the Act, hence their name.

Planning obligations enable a council to secure, amongst other things, financial contributions towards services, infrastructure and amenities in order to support and facilitate a proposed development and make it acceptable in planning terms.

Planning obligations are registered as a local land charge and will be revealed in local land charge searches until such time as they may have been discharged by way of formal application to the Council, in which case the local land charges entry may be removed from the Register. If land is subject to a planning obligation which has not been (or is not being) complied with, it may become difficult to dispose of the land given that obligations pass to successors in title.

The majority of signed agreements relating to addresses within Buckinghamshire are available for inspection/download on the area planning webpages. For those which are not available or are historic in nature copies are available from the Buckinghamshire Council Modern Records Service for a flat fee of £108 for each legal agreement requested. 

Planning obligations are rigorously monitored by the council’s Growth and Strategy Department. Once a planning obligation is completed, it is recorded on a database which allows the council to monitor compliance. It is vital that all parties understand their obligations, to ensure that they know what is required of them and when.

For confirmation that planning obligations contained within legal agreements are being adhered to, or complied with, fill out this form.  The council charges a fixed fee of £300 per request.

Before attempting to fill out the form make sure you have the following mandatory information available. You will not be able to submit the form without all mandatory information being provided. Payment is required upon submission. 

You must supply:

• your name and address
• the address of the property in question – including Post Code(s)
• a contact phone number
• your email address
• the site address as stated on the S106 agreement
• the agreement date (usually stated on the front cover)
• the planning reference number contained within the agreement
• the specific clauses and obligations to which the enquiry relates

We'll make best endeavours to respond to each submission within 14 days; however complex legal agreements are likely to require additional time to formulate a full and detailed response.