Amendment (Outside CBD) Development Contributions Plan

Development contributions plans enable councils to charge fees on new development in order to help fund new and upgraded infrastructure which will be required as a result of additional demand coming from more residents, workers and visitors.

Council forecasts that the population will grow in the area outside the Parramatta CBD and Sydney Olympic Park by approximately 166,839 new residents and 33,131 new workers between 2021 and 2041. This is a comparatively high rate of growth compared to other council areas in NSW. This new population will use local infrastructure and contribute to demand for its use. The Draft Plan takes into consideration population projections, infrastructure needs and capital works priorities as identified in current Council strategies and plans.

As a result of NSW Government changes to council boundaries in May 2016, nine separate development contributions plans currently apply to areas in the Local Government Area (LGA) outside the Parramatta CBD and Sydney Olympic Park. There are differences between these existing plans with how contributions are levied, and some plans are more than 10 years old. The preparation of the Draft Plan is a key component of the “Harmonisation Project”, which also seeks to create a single consolidated local environmental plan and development control plan for the LGA.

The Draft Plan ensures transparency and accountability for the community, developers and Council about the need to collect contributions for infrastructure and how Council will use the contributions.

The Draft Plan applies to all the land within the City of Parramatta local government area except land located within the Parramatta CBD and Sydney Olympic Park. See map below.

Local infrastructure to be provided by contributions received under the Draft Plan includes:

• Open space and recreation, including new and upgraded parks, outdoor playing fields, playgrounds and indoor sports courts.
• Community facilities, such as libraries, multi-purpose hubs, neighbourhood centres and aquatic facilities.
• Traffic and transport works, including pedestrian and traffic calming works, cycling connectivity works, intersection and traffic signal upgrades and new and upgraded local roads.

Refer to Section 2.6 of the Draft Plan, ‘Obligations for Accredited Certifiers’ for details.

In general, the Draft Plan will apply to all development that will create additional demand for new local infrastructure, including residential development, mixed use development and tourist and visitor accommodation. Section 2.1 of the Draft Plan explains the development types to which the Draft Plan applies.

Council will allocate contributions to local infrastructure in accordance with the works program in Appendix F of the Draft Plan. Council will ‘pool’ contributions within each infrastructure category so it can deliver the works in an orderly and timely manner and help meet the infrastructure demand of the incoming development and expected population growth.

The Environmental Planning & Assessment Act 1979 (the Act) allows the following approaches to collect local infrastructure contributions:

• Section 7.11 - Contributions are based on population projections and require residents, workers and visitors to contribute to local infrastructure needs in an area.
• Section 7.12 - Levies are based on fixed percentages applied to the estimated cost of works.

The Draft Plan has been prepared under the provisions of Section 7.11 of the Act and will allow consent authorities including Council and private certifiers to levy a development contribution when a development consent or complying development certificate is issued.

The Draft Plan proposes to exempt home renovations, including extensions (such as an additional level or bedroom) to existing homes and demolition of an existing dwelling and construction of a replacement single dwelling (whether of the same size or larger). A 50% discount is also proposed for secondary dwellings (also known as granny flats).

Development contributions are calculated based on the cost of net increase of new residents, workers and visitors generated by new development. Section 2.1 of the Draft Plan explains in further detail how a contribution is levied.

Under the Draft Plan’s proposed transitional provisions, the new contribution rates will only apply to development applications lodged after the Draft Plan’s commencement date, but not before. This means existing development applications are not affected by any changes to development contributions.

Applicants must pay their contribution before issue of a construction certificate associated with a development application or prior to commencing the complying development works.

The Draft Plan was on public exhibition from Wednesday 17 March 2021 until 5pm on Friday 16 April 2021. The Draft Plan will come into effect following Council endorsement.