Examines "Patel v Brent London Borough Council (No2)" ([2005] EWCA Civ 644, L130063), a recent CA judgment, which clarifies important aspects of Town and Country Planning Act 1990 s106 planning agreements. The appellant sought full return of a s106 agreement deposit claiming that the defendant local authority had repudiated the agreement. CA held that the deposit paid to a local authority for works within a s106 agreement created a form of trust under which an authority is empowered to use the money for the purposes of the trust. As the planning obligation was always extant s106A(1) of the Act operated to prevent the discharge of that obligation under the guise of the claimed repudiation of the s106 agreement. Concludes that this decision confirms the status of arrangements under which deposits are paid to local authorities but it is unclear how the ruling will affect the growing number of planning agreements being used for tariff-based payments.