Draft Report - Assessment of The Hills Shire Council Contributions Plan No 15 - Box Hill Precinct - October 2023

We have released a Draft Report on our assessment of Contributions Plan No. 15 - Box Hill Precinct (2023).

What has the council proposed?

The Hills Shire Council proposes to levy a total of around $1 billion in developer contributions to provide the local infrastructure needed to service the Box Hill precinct.

Overview of our findings

We found that most of the infrastructure costs in the plan are essential and reasonable. However, we also found that too much of the infrastructure costs to serve the precinct were being apportioned to future development.

Our draft recommendations

We have made draft recommendations to reduce the contribution rates to range from around $28,000 to around $72,000 for residential development. This represents a reasonable apportionment of costs to future development.

We are also seeking comment from the council on how the public amenities and public services will be provided within a reasonable timeframe.