The Urban Development Institute of Australia's new report comparing council fees and charges shows Townsville is one of the best and affordable local government areas for urban development along the Queensland coast.
The UDIA completes an annual review of development application (DA) fees and infrastructure charges (IC) from councils along Queensland's coast, and has now mapped data from the last five years to track trends in its new report Townsville's 2020 Fees & Charges.
The report finds that when it comes to development applications, Townsville "continues to be an affordable council with close to all categories below the non-SEQ average".
It also found that Council's infrastructure charges structure "has been following the State's maximum adopted charge cap closely since 2016".
Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said the report's findings showed that Townsville was an affordable and attractive place for urban development.
"I'm pleased that Council's efforts to keep development applications and infrastructure charges affordable has been reflected in the findings of the Fees & Charges report," Cr Hill said.
"Development is a cornerstone industry here in Townsville, and it's important that we do what we can to keep the industry thriving, especially while facing the coronavirus pandemic."
Planning and Development Committee chairperson, Les Walker, said Council recorded strong growth in residential lot approvals across the last two years.
"Townsville has had consistent growth in planning and development from 2018 to now, despite the 2019 monsoon and the coronavirus pandemic," Cr Walker said.
"June has had Council's highest numbers of development applications submitted this year and staff also held the largest number of pre-lodgement meetings so far – this all points to confidence in developing in Townsville.
"To help encourage construction, infrastructure charges have been frozen at their 2019 level until the end of this financial year.
"The industry is now growing in strength and it is great to have Council's affordable development applications and infrastructure charges recognised through the UDIA report."
