The City of Greater Bendigo is seeking community feedback for a Draft Development Contributions Policy and a Draft Development Contributions Governance Framework.
Development Contributions Schemes (DCS) detail fair funding and development of critical infrastructure required for new communities in Greater Bendigo's growth areas.
DCS provide assurance to developers and future residents in these growth areas that critical infrastructure would be provided in a timely manner as development progressively takes place.
Even though development contributions do not fund all infrastructure and services that are generated from a new development, they do fund the 'essential' shared infrastructure required to support the new development.
This means the costs are shared between all landowners who would benefit from the infrastructure.
Major infrastructure and facilities that service much larger catchments are often funded by the City with support from the Victorian or Federal Governments. In some cases, development contributions are applied as a portion of the overall costs where there is a strong relationship between the infrastructure and the new development.
Manager Strategic Planning Anthony Petherbridge said the Draft Development Contribution Policy, combined with a Draft Contributions Governance Framework, provided a transparent and consistent approach to infrastructure planning, financial management of contributions and funding for new developments across Greater Bendigo.
"Future growth areas in the region require significant investment, and this is a fair way to manage new communities and the services required through a clearly defined Policy and Governance Framework," Mr Petherbridge said.
The Policy and Framework aims to:
- Define the purpose, scope, principles, and objectives for development contributions
- Outline opportunities for funding shared essential infrastructure
- Provide definitions and outline the structure for decision-making
- Clarify roles and stakeholders
