Industry will study the governments levy proposal

14 January 2011

The NSW governments proposed new development levies in the Hunter and the Illawarra will need to be closely scrutinised, according to the Urban Taskforce. Today, the government announced that it will be proposing a $8,800 levy on new homes in the Lower Hunter and a $6,200 levy on new homes in the southern Illawarra. The governments also proposing a $42,100 levy on each hectare of new Lower Hunter industrial land, and a $29,000 levy on each hectare of Illawarra industrial land.

 

The Urban Taskforces chief executive, Aaron Gadiel, said the full details of the plan have not yet been released and apparently will not be made public until Friday next week.

 

The industry is always nervous when a government starts talking about new taxes, Mr Gadiel said.

 

Some development projects will clearly be more expensive, as a result of this charge.

 

However, other projects may face lower costs, because the government says it will remove the need for site-by-site negotiation of levies.

 

Well have to carry out a thorough analysis to test the validity of this claim.

 

Mr Gadiel said that the specifics of the proposal were not yet publicly available.

 

Well need to know the governments detailed funding plans for regional infrastructure and when the investment will take place, he said.

 

Well need to consider if key infrastructure upgrades, crucial for future urban growth, have been left out of the plans, or have been postponed.

 

If the timely delivery of new infrastructure is not guaranteed, new housing and workplaces may have to carry the cost of this levy as well as bearing the burden of additional negotiated contributions.

 

Right now, the jurys out, because the government wont release the details for at least another week.

 

The Urban Taskforce is a property development industry group, representing Australias most prominent property developers and equity financiers.

 

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