Submissions called to shape Development Contributions Plans

Council is proposing a major overhaul of its’ Development Contributions Plans, which are currently undergoing public consultation and seeking input from the community.

“Yass Valley is experiencing increased development and with an increasing population comes demand for more or improved infrastructure,” said Yass Valley Mayor, Rowena Abbey. “It is important that the new development makes contributions to this future infrastructure, but that these contributions are calculated in an equitable and transparent way, right across Yass Valley.”

Council currently has a number of Development Contributions Plans which are outdated, with some  originally prepared prior  to  the  2004  Local  Government  merger  of  the  former  Yass  Shire  and  parts  of  Gunning  and Yarrowlumla councils. The draft Contribution Plans now take the form of:

“The idea behind this overhaul is to simplify the Contributions Plans to ultimately make it a simpler process for residents considering development and also for staff who have to undertake the administration that sits behind these Plans,” said Council’s Director of Planning, Chris Berry. “These Plans are currently in draft form and now is the time for residents to submit their comments in writing, so they can be involved in shaping the documents for the future.”

A major change in the Development Contribution Plan is allowing development contributions to be spent across the Yass Valley. The previous Plans dictated that money had to be spent where the development occurred, which meant less populated villages such as Bookham, which only has small amounts of development, only had a small bucket of money available for infrastructure projects. The contributions raised will be put towards a 20 year infrastructure schedule that has been developed alongside the draft Plan. The schedule includes an estimated works cost of approximately $12 million for roads, community facilities, pathways and open space projects right across Yass Valley, with the schedule undergoing a review every 5 years.

The draft Heavy Haulage Plan aims to address the  increasing  level of  fill  deposition  within  the  Yass  Valley  (largely originating  from  the ACT) most of which is currently occurring without providing revenue towards road maintenance.

Submissions to the documents are required in writing prior to the closing date of 5.00pm Monday, 11 February 2019.

Visit the Public Consultation page to read the documentation and make a submission.

5 December 2018

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