Council to appeal, after developer wins court case to have Penrith ratepayers foot infrastructure bill

by Penrith Council
21/02/2012

Last night Penrith City Council voted to appeal a recent decision in the Land and Environment Court that could leave the community with a $1.8 million bill to provide facilities in a new 71 lot residential development. “Without an appeal we are facing a potential bill of around $55 million to provide future facilities across the whole development,” said Mayor Greg Davies.

(In September 2010 the then Minister for Planning imposed a $30,000 cap (per lot) on developer contributions.)

The recent ruling of the Land and Environment Court on development contributions in the Werrington Enterprise Living and Learning (WELL) Precinct means that more than $28,500 per lot will be allocated towards drainage and road works, leaving less than $1,500 per lot available to meet the cost of parks, sporting fields, footpaths and other necessary community facilities.

Since the 1980s community facilities in new residential areas have been provided by Penrith City Council through developer contributions providing roads, drainage and other essential infrastructure to create liveable communities.

“This is a dangerous precedent to set. The State Government is telling us that we need to find alternative funding arrangements to continue to provide essential community facilities that we have been successfully delivering since the 1980s,” said Mayor Greg Davies.

“This boils down to residents who have contributed to infrastructure when purchasing their land, now being asked to pay again to subsidise new land buyers

“Ratepayers throughout the city could face paying massive rate increases to pay for this funding shortfall.

“The present government inherited this legislation and they acknowledged that capping developer contributions to $30,000 per lot was a flawed policy” said Mayor Davies. “It is now imperative they find a solution to this dilemma. We have asked our local members to take this up with the Premier, the Treasurer and the Minister. In the meantime we will lodge an appeal to the Land and Environment Court to protect our community from this unfair impost.”

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