Infrastructure charges reform

Published Wednesday, 03 July, 2013 at 03:27 PM

Acting Premier
The Honourable Jeff Seeney

The State Government has released a discussion paper outlining options for the reform of the funding framework for local government infrastructure.

Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Jeff Seeney said the discussion paper presented a set of reform options developed from feedback received from key local government and development industry representatives who had participated in recent workshop sessions.

“We are identifying the reforms necessary to deliver a framework to support sustainable local governments and a prosperous property development and construction industry,” Mr Seeney said.

“This review of the infrastructure funding framework supports the government’s broader planning and development assessment system reforms, including the introduction of a single State Planning Policy and the State Assessment and Referral Agency.

“The current infrastructure framework was introduced by the previous government in July 2011, but local governments and the development industry have asked for a clearer and more certain approach to certain issues.

“Improving the consistency and transparency of the framework will support better project feasibility analysis and give the development industry confidence when planning for projects.

“The reforms are also focused on supporting the long-term sustainability of local governments by providing a cost-effective and administratively efficient framework.

“The department will now work with interested parties to carry out a more detailed analysis of the capped charges in parallel to implementing other framework reforms. 

“The discussion paper includes feedback from the seven workshops my department held between February and May.

“The stakeholder working group included representatives from the Local Government Association of Queensland, the Brisbane, Gold Coast and Townsville city councils, Urban Development Institute of Australia, Property Council of Australia, the Shopping Centre Council of Australia, and the Queensland Environmental Law Association, among others.

“Following the public consultation, my department will work with stakeholders to develop a preferred set of reform options to be presented for government approval in late 2013, with a view to having the new infrastructure charges framework in place from 1 July 2014.”

The discussion paper looks at the infrastructure networks delivered by local governments and considered essential to support development, including water supply, wastewater, stormwater drainage, local transport, public parks and land for community facilities.

The paper presents options for three areas of the framework:

  • Framework fundamentals – infrastructure scope, identification of trunk and non-trunk infrastructure and infrastructure planning
  • Charges mechanisms – planned and capped charging mechanisms, and
  • Framework elements – supporting elements of the framework, including: conditions, offsets, refunds, credits, infrastructure agreements, dispute resolution and deferred payment of charges

The public consultation runs from early July until 9 August.

Visit www.dsdip.qld.gov.au/infrastructure-charges to view the discussion paper and find out how to make a submission.

[ENDS] 3 July 2013

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