Land tax breaks for trees, foliage can slow vegetation loss, Natural Resources Committee hears
A radical land tax proposal would reward green thumb property owners with discounts in a scheme conservations say can help stop trees coming down on private property.
Reducing land tax bills for property owners who maintain or increase vegetation on their blocks could help prevent loss of trees on private land, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.
The Natural Resources Committee has been told that land tax incentives could be a way to prevent the loss of gardens and trees for development.
The committee has received 40 submissions to an inquiry into the resourcing, management, benefit and opportunities for urban green spaces.
In their separate submissions, the Conservation Council SA and former CCSA chief executive Tim Kelly have suggested discounting land tax based on a percentage of a property’s green cover.
“Rearranging how land tax is calculated could provide a modest but significant
recurring incentive that will encourage greater canopy and garden green cover by deducting the percentage area of canopy and green garden cover from the tax determination,” the CCSA and Mr Kelly say in their submissions.
“Such an approach is not new. When rural property owners dedicate areas of native
vegetation to be protected through heritage agreements, they can achieve a council rate reduction.
“The same concept could be applied to protecting trees and gardens based on the area of canopy and green cover area.”
Mr Kelly writes that rooftop gardens and green walls could also be count towards a discount on land tax bills.
“There are already provisions in the land tax calculation to incorporate different land uses, yet to date there has been no segregation of the land uses that support trees and gardens and green cover for urban sites,” he writes.
He writes that the current planning system values “garden habitat at zero dollars”.
“Coupled with the related loss of Victorian and Federation houses, our urban environments are being destroyed,” he said.
Most submissions from community groups and councils reiterated the need for more protection for existing trees and vegetation citing their ability to make neighbourhoods cooler, more liveable, capture rain and provide crucial habitat.
Adelaide City Council wants a 30-year land acquisition strategy for urban open spaces to support “urban greening for future populations”.
“Strategic acquisition of land now will be more affordable than in future when it becomes more critical as a result of population increases and a changing climate,” its submission says.
The Urban Development Institute of Australia, which represents developers, in its submission says that mandatory 12.5 per cent open space provision in major greenfield development must be reviewed.
It says that some councils in “northern Adelaide” have sought a smaller amount of open space “on the basis of the impost of ongoing maintenance costs, once the land is transferred to the relevant council”.
“Some councils are requesting payment of monies in lieu of providing open space, in some instances,” it said.
“Councils are citing they have sufficient open space within the vicinity of the development and so do not require further open space.”
The Advertiser mapped for the first time where mature trees are being lost across Adelaide and wrote about the efforts and barriers to increasing trees in the city.