Council to lower development costs in Kilkivan and Goomeri
Goomeri and Kilkivan would be made more tantalising options for prospective developers under a proposal to be voted on at the next council meeting. See what’s planned.
Gympie
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Goomeri and Kilkivan would be made more tantalising options for prospective developers under a proposal to encourage development in the two western townships.
Under the plan to be considered by Gympie Region Council at Wednesday’s general meeting, it is proposed to make infrastructure charges on new developments at Kilkivan and Goomeri, about 50km west of Gympie city, cheaper than the rest of the region.
A staff report to be considered by the council says this follows requests by councillors concerned that keeping charges for these more isolated towns the same as the rest of the region “would be a disincentive to development”.
Under the new prices, developers of a three bedroom home would pay $20,507 for each lot in Goomeri or Kilkivan, compared to $30,667 elsewhere in the Gympie region.
These new rates are the same as what has been charged in the Gympie area since 2017.
The reduced price does not just apply to housing.
Hotels, tourist parks, retirement homes and caravan parks would also carry lower development charges in those two towns than anywhere else in the region.
The report says the prices charged in 2017 were “considerably below” not only the maximum cap set by State Government laws, but also the expected cost to the council of providing the infrastructure.
Without these charges in place for developers “the burden of infrastructure provision to service new development would fall upon existing ratepayers”, the report says.
Services covered by these charges include the construction of roads, parks, sewerage, water pipes and stormwater drains.
The new proposed charges are also to fix issues raised by two court appeals against the council.
In October 2021, Allen-Co Holdings took the council to the Planning and Environment court after it disputed how much it had been charged by the council to develop a 61-lot subdivision at Widgee, which was not connected to the region’s water and sewerage networks.
It had been charged $966,179 before revising that down to $866,490.
Allen-Co said the council had miscalculated and the charge should have been $447,221.
The court upheld Allen-Co’s appeal, but ultimately the developer only won a small reprieve, with the final charge being about $813,000.
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Originally published as Council to lower development costs in Kilkivan and Goomeri
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