The NSW North Coast has been under sustained population growth and demographic change for decades; as retirees, sea-changers and tree-changers look for their piece of coastal paradise.
Consequently demands on local government infrastructure have been relentlessly growing in relation to how many extra bodies there are per town or square kilometre and, although all groups profess satisfaction with their new lives, within five years they are demanding increased infrastructure and services.
Throughout this period there has been limited NSW Government assistance for local government.
Indeed there has been considerable cost-shifting onto this lower tier of government at both state and federal level.
Now NSW Labor's Morris Iemma and Frank Sartor are intent on finally bringing the only truly immediate form of government available to us, local government, to its knees by depriving it of reasonable Section 94 developer contributions.
Genia McCaffery, President of the Local Government Association of NSW, reflects a widespread dissatisfaction with State Government.
"Local government usually negotiates as a first option, so it is a measure of how angry we are with the State Government's high-handed treatment that we are now proposing drastic action. On Wednesday 250 mayors, councillors and general managers from across NSW defied the State Government by vowing to refuse to hand over hundreds of millions of dollars in community funds.
The State Government plans to slash the contributions developers are required to pay to councils - usually an amount per lot known as a Section 94 levy - to help fund the additional infrastructure that is needed to service the new population housed by the development.
Furthermore, the State Government plans to take control of the smaller contribution developers will have to pay rather than passing it on to the local council so that the council can use the money to build new roads, stormwater and drainage facilities, parks and sporting fields or to extend existing facilities such as libraries and community centres.
We argue that developers should not be able to walk away with huge profits from development, leaving councils with the cost of providing infrastructure to meet the needs of new residents. This burden is particularly onerous under the rate-pegging scheme, where our revenue from ratepayers is already restricted.-------
The Government is hiding behind the catchphrase of housing affordability. They argue that slashing contributions will take $50,000 to $60,000 off the price of a new home. In reality, developers contribute just $13,000 to $15,000 per house.
Does anyone really believe that developers will pass the $15,000 in savings on to new home owners? This Government is pandering to the interests of one group - developers, the same interest group that makes large contributions to party election funding."
The Sydney Morning Herald full opinion piece:
No comments:
Post a Comment