Coronavirus economy: northern Sydney council coffers hold $471m in unspent infrastructure funds
Two councils in North Sydney have banked more than $100 million each in unspent infrastructure funding. SEE THE FIGURES FROM YOUR AREA HERE.
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Councils across regions stretching from North Sydney to Hornsby have a staggering $471.6 million in unspent infrastructure funds sitting in their coffers — with two councils raking in and holding onto more than $100 million each.
New data has revealed the councils have banked eye-watering amounts of cash in developer contributions from local development applications, with Ku-ring-gai Council in the city’s upper north shore banking a massive $134.5 million.
Ryde Council comes in second on the local list with $103.3 million in unspent funds; Hornsby Council is holding onto $78.8 million; Lane Cove has banked $53.9 million; while Willoughby Council has $43.6 million held in the coffers.
The Northern Beaches developer funds bank account has more than $32.7 million in it, while North Sydney has raked in a cool $20.1 million in unspent funds. Mosman has just $2.6 million in their coffers, while Hunters Hill holds just $1.7 million saved.
A Ku-ring-gai Council spokeswoman told NewsLocal several major projects, including new public open space in St Ives, new parks at Turramurra, and the Gordon Recreational Ground improvements were all major investments from council in the past 12 months.
“Council collects (developer) contributions from developers to help pay for new infrastructure and facilities for the growing population of the area,” she said.
“Some of the works to be undertaken in the contributions plan cater for the existing population and these works require a co-contribution from council’s general funds.”
Ku-ring-gai Council will spend $56 million in developer contributions next year on major projects.
While neighbouring Hornsby Council has just completed a new contributions plan “which is instrumental in guiding the funding and delivery of community projects”.
A council spokesman told NewsLocal it “strongly believes that developer contributions should be used to help provide community infrastructure”.
“A number of Council’s major infrastructure projects are using developer contributions. These include the rehabilitation of Hornsby Quarry and the creation of the Westleigh recreation facilities, as well as new community centre and library facilities within Hornsby town centre,” he said.
A Mosman Council spokeswoman said it will spend more in developer contributions this year than the council is expected to receive.
“Mosman Council has been very proactive in using developer contributions to ensure, as intended, that all of our assets are replaced or upgraded regularly, including the recent works on the Balmoral Promenade and the Civic Building,” she said.
While a Willoughby council said it has spent $1 million on the Chatswood Park masterplan, $1.9 million on upgrades to Northbridge Bowling Club and a further $562,000 on Willoughby Park playground upgrade.
Overall, councils in communities across NSW have banked a massive $2.65 billion worth of unspent developer contributions, as industry leaders call for the funds to be urgently spent in local infrastructure projects to support communities post-coronavirus.
The shocking amount of funds in council coffers across the state has been revealed by The Urban Development Institute of Australia NSW, who’s chief executive Steve Mann found a council’s banked an extra $191 million in the past year.
“The five councils who have banked the highest amounts of developer contributions are all Sydney-based, with Bayside Council holding onto $286 million, Blacktown banking $214 million, Liverpool has $160 million, while Sydney and Ku-ring-gai have $141 million and $135 million respectively.
Mr Mann said councils across the state could spend the developer contributions on local parks, footpaths, roads, sporting fields and lighting.
“These are funds that must be spent on projects to benefit the local community, so what better time to invest in local infrastructure than now?” Mr Mann told NewsLocal.
“Councils can consider these contributions as free money — now is the time to spend it.”
The UDIA NSW chief said spending the funds would result in fast economic outcomes over the next 12 to 18 months, however, councils are hamstrung by red tape and policy in “desperate need of reform”.
Mr Mann said, surprisingly, there is no clear relationship to the completion of major developments and when developer contributions are actually spent.