Development Contributions are a means of enabling the fair funding and delivery of infrastructure for a particular new development area.
About Development Contributions
Development Contributions are needed to fund essential infrastructure that is required for new communities in Greater Bendigo’s growth areas. They are a fairer mechanism to share costs between all land owners that would benefit from the infrastructure, rather than Council or one developer having to fund the works in conjunction with a land owner as they develop their land.
Council has a limited infrastructure budget that covers the whole of the municipality. Future growth areas require significant investment that cannot be the sole responsibility of Council, so Development Contributions would provide a more sustainable approach in managing new communities and the services required.
Development Contributions provide assurance to developers and future residents in these growth areas that critical and often costly infrastructure will be provided in a timely manner as development progressively takes place.
Funds received through Development Contributions can be used for a wide range of projects including:
- New roads and intersections and upgrades
- New drainage infrastructure and upgrades
- Off road walking and cycling paths
- New parks and play spaces
- Landscaping and streetscaping works
- Improvements to parks
- Libraries
- Sporting facilities
- Youth facilities
- Community health centres
- Arts and cultural facilities
- Public lighting and toilet blocks
Development Contributions Scheme is the general term used to describe a way to recover the cost of essential shared infrastructure from new development and change areas.
The development contributions schemes generally available to Local Government include:
- Development Contributions Plan (DCP)
- Shared Infrastructure Funding Plan (SIFP)
- Public Open Space Levy
- Drainage / Stormwater Management Scheme
- Special Rates and Charges
Only a DCP is incorporated into the planning scheme via the Development Contributions Plan Overlay.
A DCP is a means of enabling the fair funding and delivery of infrastructure for a particular new development area.
It is a planning and legal instrument used to levy new development for contributions under the Planning and Environment Act (1987). The contributions ensure the provision of infrastructure that is required to service new development areas.
A DCP identifies the area of land it applies to, the infrastructure projects that the financial contributions would fund, and how these contributions would be calculated and shared across property owners.
A planning overlay is placed on land where a DCP applies so that land owners know what their future obligations are if they subdivide and/or develop their land.
Where are DCPs applied in Greater Bendigo?
The City has two DCPs which have been gazetted into the Greater Bendigo Planning Scheme which applies to the Marong Business Park and Huntly Growth Area. The contributions payable on this land are documented in the list below.
What other Development Contributions Schemes have been implemented?
The City has a range of voluntary agreements in place through Shared Infrastructure Funding Plans (SIFP) with a Section 173 agreement. A SIFP is best suited in areas that have low number of landowners (allows easier negotiation), a small to medium number of projects, and low project complexity.