Development Contributions Policy Update

Overview

Hamilton City Council is updating its current Development Contributions Policy.

Hamilton has experienced strong growth in recent years. Growth provides economic and social benefits to our city, but we need to manage it well. Providing services to more people, more homes and more businesses creates more demand on Council's infrastructure network. We need to invest in our capital programme to ensure our parks, roads, water, wastewater and stormwater services meet the current and future needs of our city.

This Policy allows the Council to recover, from developers, a fair and equitable portion of these costs. If growth costs are not paid by either developers or through Government subsidies, they are paid for by ratepayers.

In 2018 the Council adopted a revised Development Contributions Policy which aligned with the Council’s guiding principle of Growth Pays for Growth. The Policy must be reviewed every three years or more often if changes are required.

We are proposing some changes to the existing Policy and at the 26 February 2019 Council meeting the Council resolved to consult on this update.

HOW YOU CAN HAVE YOUR SAY

We want your feedback on the proposed changes and on any other aspects of the Policy.

Consultation is open from Tuesday 9 April 2019 to Monday 29 April 2019. After submissions have been collated and assessed, the Council will consider feedback at a Council meeting on Tuesday 21 May, 2019. The Policy will be up for adoption at a Council meeting Thursday 20 June, 2019. These meetings are open to the public so you are welcome to come along.

In addition to the scheduled DC Policy Update consultation the Council is providing a further opportunity for feedback on the update through an elected member briefing on 9 May. People can schedule a time slot to talk about their views between 9am and 1pm on Thursday 9 May and receive questions from Councillors on the proposals. All submitters who have provided contact details will be offered the opportunity after consultation closes on 29 April.

This document includes a high-level summary of the key changes and an opportunity for you to share your views. It is designed to be read in conjunction with the proposed Development Contributions Policy.

If you want help finding this information, please contact our customer services team 24/7 on 07 838 6699 or email us at info@hcc.govt.nz.

WHAT ARE THE KEY CHANGES AND WHAT DO THEY MEAN?

We are proposing six key areas of change to the current Policy. They are listed below with a brief explanation of what the changes would mean.

Proposed key changes to the Council’s policy on development contributions

List of proposed changes:

1. Updated growth funding modelling environment 
2. Inclusion of additional assets in the Schedule of Assets
3. CBD remission be retained at 66% reduction until 30 June 2021
4. Provide capped development contribution charges for non-residential development in the Rotokauri general catchment
5. Clarification to ‘gross floor area’ definition
6. Updated schedule of charges (excluding GST)

Although the above list sets out the key proposed changes, it is not a list of all changes. We recommend you review the proposed policy in its entirety to see all changes.

Also, the Development Contributions Policy 2018/19 contains clauses relating to wet industries. The Council proposes to update Schedule 5, Note 2 in the Development Contributions Policy 2019/20 to align with changes to the Local Government Act 2002. The policy provisions are amended as outlined in Schedule 5 in the proposed Policy.

• Scroll down the page to "Related" to view the related documents.

Please note:
Please be aware when providing a submission/giving feedback/responding to a survey that all responses are part of the consultation process. This means that your name but not contact details may be reproduced and included in the Council's public documents such as the Council agendas and minutes. These documents are available on the Council's website at www.hamilton.govt.nz