Development Contributions for the benefit of all in Port Stephens. 

   TRRA Info for Members, Posted by: Colin Howard, TRRA Liaison Officer

Many people have asked “what is this Section 94 funding we keep hearing hear about?” 

Section 94 refers to contributions under section 94 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. Each local government may use this part of the act to request some form of compensation from a developer who seeks approval from their Council to undertake some development.

In the Port Stephens Local Government Area this normally takes the form of a monetary contribution. Council can levy a maximum of 1% of the cost of development for most developments, that would create a demand for public amenities and services where the proposed cost of carrying out the development is greater than $100,000.

Full details of the Port Stephens S94 Contribution Plan are available HERE

The Section 94A Levy, as it is called, assists Council in providing public facilities required to maintain and enhance amenity and service delivery in the LGA.  The idea is to obtain a contribution from developers towards the provision, extension to or, or augmentation of, public amenities and services that will be required as a consequence of development in the LGA.

This type of fee enables our Council to recoup funds which it has spent in the provision of public facilities in anticipation of likely future development. It also means that community is not burdened by the provision of public facilities required as a result of future development. Council tries to ensure there is a strategy for the assessment, collection, expenditure, accounting and review of development contributions on an equitable basis.

So far so good! Now you may ask where does the levy funds end up?

In the Ports Stephens LGA the funds are allocated based on requests from the community (via their local Crs) and Councils operating needs to provide increased services.

There does not need to be a link between the area of the development and where Council decides to spend the funds. So Council can, if they so choose, spend the money obtained from a development at, say Anna Bay, on a grant to an organization in other LGA area. The listed facilities and functions requiring Council managed Section 94 funding are shown in a list within Council’s Plan. These are identified in Part E Schedule 3, the Council’s Section 94 Work Schedule. There are, however some items on the list that only receive Section 94 funding support from particular areas.

The list HERE was compiled in December by the seven Councillors listed and three elected Councillors were completely excluded from the process. This list has now been out for public exhibition and was formally approved for funding at Council’s meeting on 26.3.13.

Many are worthy projects. However there are many more other worthy projects listed on Council’s works lists, like roads, drains, kerbing, cycle-ways, footpaths and amenities blocks which need replacing – many hundreds of which would have qualified for this repealed Section 94 funding.

The lists from the various Parks and Reserves 355c Committees were completely ignored and dedicated volunteers have been told constantly there are no funds available for projects. The one listing for Boat Harbour Reserve Committee has been corrected (on 26.3.13) to read Boat Harbour Recreation Club Inc. and there is no explanation as to how those funds will be spent.

The main concern is the process used for the compilation of these lists and the potential queue jumping which has taken place. Some are not located on Council owned/managed land and were not on any Council works list.

You be the judge – Yes, many are worthy….. but…..How do they compare with the other hundreds on the Council works lists?

The latest allocation of funds from this source was another list of projects (below) compiled by the three Councillors excluded from the initial process.

According to the Council business papers of 12.2.13, Council had sought legal advice from Lindsay Taylor Lawyers specifically in relation to expenditure of repealed Section 94 funds.  In summary, the legal requirements around the expenditure of repealed funds allows some flexibility for the allocation of these funds as opposed to funds collected under the current contribution plans.

The projects on this list for funding, via repealed Section 94 funds, align with Council’s existing asset renewal program and are located on Council owned/managed land. It was recognised that full costings had not yet been done and that additional funding from grants funding may be required.

So where are these contributions currently being allocated? The latest allocation of funds from the Section 94 levy was agreed in February 2013 and is listed below.