Section 94 Developer Contributions & Voluntary Planning Agreements

Section 94 and 94A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 , enables local councils or other consent authorities to levy contributions for public amenities and services required as a consequence of development. Development Contribution Plans and Policies are the mechanism used to apply Council’s development charges. The levy ensures that new development contributes to the cost of providing new facilities and services, and ensures that the level of services provided in the Local Government Area (LGA) is maintained. Development contributions (monetary or in-kind) can be used to help provide for public assets such as parks, local road improvements, town centre improvements, and community libraries.

Council's Section 94 Contributions Plans are detailed below and may be viewed or downloaded by selecting the relevant link.

It should be noted that Section 94 Contributions also apply to complying development, whether lodged with Council or a private certifier.

In determining whether a Section 94 levy applies to your proposed development you must firstly determine whether you are in the levy area shown in the separate plans for Taree, Wingham, Hallidays Point and Harrington (see separate Fact Sheet above for Old Bar). If you are within the levy area in one of these plans you need to add the levy for your type of development in this plan to that contained within the Greater Taree Section 94 Contributions Plan. If you are outside the levy area within these locality plans then a Section 94 Contribution Plan does not apply to your development. Included below are the calculations sheets for Section 94 and 94A Contributions, which shows how the levy is calculated and for what purpose the levy is collected for. Council indexes and adjusts contribution rates in accordance with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Voluntary Planning Agreements (VPAs) are an alternative mechanism under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 Section 93F to achieve public facilities for the community of Greater Taree.

Greater Taree is a signatory to the following active VPAs: