JDW's '50m litter pick' not legal

Council rapped for over-the-top approach

Lawyer: conditions are "unreasonable"

Councillors in Shrewsbury have been warned against imposing stringent conditions on a new JD Wetherspoon pub.

The conditions would mean staff having to clean the streets up to 50m from the entrance.

Planning officers have warned councillors that they are over-stepping the mark if they seek to impose a Section 106 agreement on the company's proposed new pub in the Pride Hill Shopping Centre.

The 106 agreement also contains a requirement for JD Wetherspoon to link its proposed private CCTV system to Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council's town-centre system.

The council's top solicitor Christopher Gordon is warning the development control committee the conditions are "unreasonable" and should be considered as part of a premises licence application.

In a report to the committee, which meets on Tuesday, he said: "In a Section 106 agreement, obligations to be fulfilled by an applicant

cannot be forced upon an applicant by a planning authority.

"These obligations can be present only if agreed by

the applicant. If a planning authority still seeks to impose obligations on a S106 agreement then this imposition will be 'ultra vires', or, in other words, beyond the power of the authority.

"Thus the applicants would certainly make a successful appeal against the imposition and would be awarded the costs of the appeal. These costs would have to be paid by the planning authority."

He suggested approval subject to previous conditions without a Section 106 agreement or refusal giving "sustainable reasons".