INDUSTRIAL LAND USE STRATEGY - City of Darebin

4.5.3 Development Contributions PlansThe Planning and Environment(Development Contributions) Act 1995provides for Councils to collectcontributions or levies through anapproved Development Contribution Plan(DCP) which would be incorporated intothe Darebin Planning Scheme via anamendment.Two components to DevelopmentContribution Plans were identified:1. Physical Infrastructure, payable upfront for items such as roads, drains,open space or land for communityinfrastructure.2. Social/Community Infrastructure,which included community meetinghalls, pre-schools, maternal and childhealth, care centres.An upper limit of $450 per lot forresidential development was applied tothe Community Infrastructure levy. Thismeans an apartment complex of 40homes would only be required tocontribute $18,000 to infrastructure yet,in a small or isolated locality 40additional homes may have asubstantial impact on local services.Non-residential development couldattract a development contribution ofup to 0.25% of construction costs forcommunity infrastructure.The Department of Infrastructure iscurrently reviewing the use of DCPsand Darebin is part of a pilot project.Development Contribution Planshave not been utilized by mostCouncils, probably due to theircumbersome nature and the onerouswork required by Councils tointroduce them.A comprehensive impact analysis isrequired to inform the level ofcontributions that must address thetests of need, nexus, equity andaccountability.4.5.4 Special Rate LevySection 163 of the Local Government Act 1989 provides for Councils to levy special rates andcharges. These Special rates and charges may be levied on any specified area for the purposeof “defraying any expenses”. Special Rate Levies are currently used in some retail centres inthe City of Darebin to help Council market and promote the local centre.The use of a special levy would enable Council to direct the cost of improvements to thecommunity that is considered to benefit. Costs for tasks such as the bundling of overheadcabling could then be defrayed amongst the wider community that would benefit from theimproved streetscape and thus minimise the cost to any individual or company.Special rate levies are advantageous in that they can be applied to a larger communitybenefiting from the improvements and are not restricted to individual developments asare DCP’s and Section 173 Agreements.Industrial Land Use Strategy 19