Developer charges for water supply in Gunnedah and Curlewis are set to decrease under a new proposal.
The proposed lower fees are in response to changes in “growth assumptions” which are now forecasting lower than expected expansion in the area.
The revised projection forms part of the Draft Gunnedah Shire Development Servicing Plan currently on public exhibition at council.
The Development Servicing Plan (DSP) details the water supply, sewerage and, or stormwater developer charges to be levied on development areas utilising a water utility’s water supply, sewerage and, or stormwater infrastructure.
According to Gunnedah Shire Council, development contributions – which include developer servicing charges – are designed to ensure that new developments pay their fair share towards the infrastructure needed to support them. This prevents existing ratepayers from bearing the full cost of infrastructure for new developments.
The draft DSP covers water supply and sewerage developer charges for areas served by Gunnedah Shire Council. Stormwater charges are covered under a separate DSP.
At Gunnedah and Curlewis, water development charges will drop from $8951 to $6785 under the new proposal.
A report to council stated these decreased fees were due to “changes in growth assumptions” for the areas.
According to the report, projected growth rates in Gunnedah and Curlewis are about 3% per year for the next five years, decreasing to around 1%, per year by the end of the 30 years.
The previous DSP had assumed a growth rate of 0.75 per cent.
Additionally, the proposed developer charges for sewerage at Gunnedah will drop from $10,789 to $4970. At Curlewis, the change will be from $10,789 to $9734.
For sewerage, the projected growth rate in Gunnedah is around 4%, per year for the next five years, decreasing to around 1.5% per year by the end of the 30 years. The projected growth rate in Curlewis is 0.8% per year for next 30 years. The previous DSP assumed a growth rate of 0.75% for Gunnedah and 0.5% for Curlewis.
The report to council noted the growth rate was different for water and sewer in Gunnedah as some properties, such as the tannery and rural residential areas, are connected to water but not sewer.
The report also highlighted that while the cost of providing new infrastructure to service future growth has increased, it’s not a linear relationship.
This meant the cost of servicing future growth is shared between a greater number of new developments, so the unit rate per new development has decreased.
