IPART has published a Final Report, Fact Sheet and Media Release on our assessment of Wollongong City Council’s draft West Dapto Contributions Plan 2020.
The West Dapto CP is in its early stages, with development in the West Dapto Urban Release Area (WDURA) expected to occur over approximately 50 years to 2060. As development progresses, the council should update the plan to reflect any changes to planning assumptions and infrastructure requirements and ensure any estimated costs are still reasonable, given its experience in delivering other infrastructure in the area.
The council seeks to levy the full, uncapped contributions amount in West Dapto on developers from 1 July 2020.
We have made recommendations that in aggregate reduce the costs in the plan. We also made recommendations about the council’s approach to apportioning costs between different stages in West Dapto.
Our recommendation to apportion costs separately between stages would significantly reduce contribution rates for development in Stage 5, while developers in Stages 1-4 would pay more towards the necessary local infrastructure, in line with their demand for this infrastructure.
Our Final Report sets out our findings and recommendations to the Minister on the amendments required to ensure that the plan reflects the reasonable costs of providing the necessary local infrastructure to accommodate the development in West Dapto.