Background

Council, at its meeting on 13 August 2024 resolved to exhibit the draft Strathfield Section 7.12 Local Infrastructure Contributions Plan 2024 (the draft plan) for the Strathfield Local Government Area (LGA) (excluding the land within the Homebush TOD Precinct).

The draft Plan proposes a 3% levy on development, including new dwellings and alterations and additions to existing dwellings with a cost to build over $250,000 to provide for parks, local road improvements, town centre improvements, community centres and other services needed to align with population growth across the Strathfield Local Government Area.

Why have we prepared the draft Plan

Strathfield’s residential population is growing, and it is important that Council has a financially sustainable plan to deliver new and upgraded infrastructure as well as ensuring that infrastructure service levels for existing residents are not negatively impacted by new development.

The ability for Council to levy a local infrastructure contribution on development assists in funding infrastructure to support a healthy and balanced community.

Currently Council operates both a section 7.12 and a section 7.11 plan. These are quite complex documents and do not create sufficient flexibility for Council to be able to efficiently collect infrastructure contributions and allocate funds to required projects.

By adopting a single section 7.12 contribution plan – a single consistent approach to infrastructure contributions will be created.

Planning reforms to encourage diversity in housing (dual occupancy, medium density development) and long-term planning in our Centres, as well as the Homebush TOD Precinct will increase the potential availability of new housing and therefore increase residential population.

By 2051, the population of the Strathfield LGA (excluding Homebush TOD Precinct) is expected to be 69,975 residents (an increase of 78% compared to the existing 2024 population).

Council has development a schedule of works (new parks, community facilities and public domain improvements etc) to meet the needs of our growing population. The works in this schedule are valued at $408.5 million. We will also continue to monitor and review our infrastructure works schedule in a proactive manner. As new projects are identified or projects are completed, we will review the works schedule accordingly.

How will the draft Plan affect me?

The draft Strathfield Section 7.12 Contributions Plan will only apply where development is being undertaken.

Section 1.4 of the Plan identifies development which is exempt from the Plan. All other development, including alterations and additions to existing dwellings, new dwellings, secondary dwellings and dual occupancy development will be required to pay the levy, which is based on the cost of works

The proposed levy rates are as follows:

Development type and proposed development cost	Levy
All development with a proposed cost up to and including $100,000	Nil
All development with a proposed cost between $100,000 to $250,000	0.5%
All development with a proposed cost on more than $250,000	3%

The draft Plan differs from the current plan which levies 0.5% of the development costs for developments between $100,001 to $200,000 and 1% for development costing more than $200,000.

The Works Schedule

The works schedule (Appendix B of the draft plan) identifies the infrastructure required to meet the needs of the forecast development and an estimate of the timeframe within which each infrastructure works item will be delivered.

It is Council’s intention that the contributions received from development under this Plan will be spent on works identified in Appendix B.

Have Your Say

You are invited to provide feedback on the Draft Strathfield Section 7.12 Local Infrastructure Contributions Plan 2024:

• Email: council@strathfield.nsw.gov.au
• Post: Strathfield Council, PO Box 120, Strathfield NSW 2135. Please mark your submission: Draft Section 7.12 Contributions Plan
• Form: Complete the Feedback form below

You can also view a copy of the amendments at Council’s Customer Service Centre, 65 Homebush Road Strathfield.

The amendments are on exhibition until Friday 22 November 2024