Bega Council calls for NSW Government Bill to reduce developer levies to be scrapped

A coastal council says jobs could be lost and rates jacked up to cover any money lost if a Bill proposing to cut critical developer payments – which help fund roads, playgrounds and footpaths – passes in NSW Parliament.

A south coast council has called on the NSW Government to drop a Bill proposing to defer and reduce critical developer payments to councils, saying it threatens jobs and the community’s future “wellbeing”.

Bega Valley Shire Council said this week it has written to the NSW Government requesting the withdrawal of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Infrastructure Contributions) Bill, now before Parliament, saying it would “detrimentally impact the shire’s communities”.

During a recent meeting, the council unanimously voted to write to local Liberal state MP Andrew Constance, along with the Premier, ministers and senators pushing for an end to the idea.

The council said the move would likely see ratepayers forking out for new infrastructure, which is currently the responsibility of developers.

Bega Valley Shire Mayor Russell Fitzpatrick said jobs could be at stake without an exemption from proposed changes.

The contributions are currently charged by councils before new work goes ahead, with the cost usually charged per square metre and levies calculated as one per cent of the total estimated cost of the development.

The Bill will see a broad-based pooled regional contributions system introduced and developers will be able to defer payments until after construction.

The new legislation is due to come into force next July.

NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes has said the changes will improve transparency and accountability in how infrastructure contributions are received and spent in NSW

Mayor Russell Fitzpatrick, who put forward the motion to try and have the Bill scrapped, said the state government should undertake further consultation with local government on the move.

He told the meeting the region will be “worse off” under the reforms, especially in the area of “job creation”.

Cr Fitzpatrick said the move “would see a reduction in investment in public infrastructure funded by developer contributions”.

“Developer contributions are used to finance additional infrastructure essential to growing communities, such as roads, footpaths, street lighting, parks, playgrounds, water and sewage utilities, and the list goes on,” he said.

“The proposed changes to this Bill would mean a reduction in local community infrastructure projects, that the NSW Government could dictate where our funds should be spent or worse still, our contributions could be spent outside of the shire.”

He said modelling conducted by Local Government NSW found many councils would be negatively affected by the proposed changes.

Bega Valley Shire Council CEO Anthony McMahon said he hoped the council will receive an exemption.

“The changes will negatively impact our community’s wellbeing and participation in civic life and will result in the loss of jobs that would have been generated through the design, development, delivery and operation of public facilities,” he said.

“We need to safeguard the shire from these proposed amendments to infrastructure contributions, which would shift costs for new infrastructure projects to ratepayer funds.

“I acknowledge the NSW Government’s recent commitment to work with local government to review the Bill and look forward to withdrawal of the current Bill as the first step to ensuring councils are not worse off as a result of that review process.”

Bega Valley Shire Council’s director of community, environment and planning Alice Howe said the losses could reach $700,000 per year.

The council’s director of community, environment and planning, Alice Howe, said the move could see $700,000 a year of lost revenue, which would equate to a rate rise of around 3 per cent.

She said the NSW Government had said it was willing to consult further with regional and rural councils.

The council’s CEO, Anthony McMahon, said he hoped the council would receive an exemption from the Bill.

“It’s important that the advocacy happens until such time that things do change,” he said.

Local Government NSW president Linda Scott said while the Bill would “help developers” it would also “hurt communities” by lumping them with the costs of infrastructure.

Local Government NSW president Linda Scott said communities will be hurt by the move.

“The changes could also result in the delay or removal of projects for the public good from local government community plans, with a consequential hit to important community infrastructure such as pools and parks, as well as investment and jobs that would have been generated through the design, development, delivery and operation of these public facilities,” she said.

“Communities shouldn’t have to wait for thousands of new residents to move in so that the roads can be built, and then dug up to build the drains.

“This reform condemns infrastructure upgrades incurred by new developments to the very end of the process.

“Importantly, it would delay the provision of parks, cycleways, footpaths, stormwater drainage and a plethora of vital infrastructure and leave new residents without essential services and facilities when they move into an area.”

Mr Stokes’ office has been contacted for further comment.