Under Section 64 of the Local Government Act 1993 and Sections 305 to 307 of the Water Management Act 2000, developer charges may be applied to developments which places an additional demand on the water supply or sewerage system. The charge is a contribution towards the cost of existing or projected works which the development will rely on.  

A developer charge will apply when a development places an additional demand on Council’s water or sewer infrastructure. Such developments include land subdivisions where additional lots are created, changes of use for existing developments for example a change of office space to restaurant and where the scope of the existing development is expanded for example development of a single residential dwelling to a dual occupancy or expansion of a site based child care centre.  

The methodology used to calculate the value of developer charge is set out in the Department of Planning and Environment’s (DPE) 2016 Developer Charges Guidelines for Water Supply, Sewerage and Stormwater (the Guidelines).

The draft Development Servicing Plans have been prepared in accordance with the Guidelines. Also, in accordance with the Guidelines Council has obtained an Independent Audit report confirming that the draft DSP documents have addressed the requirements of the Guidelines. 

Once adopted, the new developer charge will be used as the basis for determining contributions payable if your development places an additional demand on the water or sewer network.

The methodology for assessment of the additional demand from the development is provided in the Water Directorate’s Guidelines for Determination of Equivalent Tenements which provides a basis for approximation of demand from a range of development types. The additional demand is then applied to the charge associated with the developer servicing area from the draft DSP to determine the charges payable for your development.