Have your say on Council’s draft Development Contributions Policy
16 May 2022
Have your say on Rotorua Lakes Council’s draft Development Contributions Policy
Rotorua Lakes Council is currently seeking feedback on a draft Development Contributions Policy.
Members of the public are encouraged to learn about, and have their say, on the draft Policy between 16 May and 16 June 2022.
As Rotorua grows, so does the need for reliable infrastructure, and it is Council’s responsibility to ensure there is sufficient infrastructure to cater for expected growth.
Growth creates demand on the district’s water, sewerage and stormwater services.
Consultation with the community aims to test who should pay for this growth.
Currently the cost of growth is absorbed by ratepayers in the district.
Under the proposed draft Policy, a development contribution would levy the developer seeking support from council to fund the expansion of water, sewerage and stormwater networks needed to support their development. In the absence of this policy, Council will have to borrow to invest in the additional growth.
Rotorua Lakes Council has previously had a Development Contributions Policy. This was adopted as part of its Long-term Plan in 2006.
Following the Global Financial Crisis, the Rotorua economic environment was in a ‘low’ to ‘no growth’ phase, and at this time, development contributions were perceived as a disincentive to growth in the Rotorua context.
The Council at the time clearly indicated they were committed to doing what they could to enable investment in Rotorua and the removal of the Development Contributions Policy was undertaken as part of the 2014 Annual Plan process and development contributions were phased out over the 2014-15 financial year.
Over the last five years, due to a wide range of factors, Rotorua has become a destination city. This has led to exponential growth needs across the city. With this demand for growth, the infrastructure to cater for this growth needs to be created. This infrastructure needs to be timely and it comes at a cost.
The proposed Development Contributions Policy would see the developer creating the need for growth infrastructure, paying a fair share of the capital cost of the new or expanded infrastructure required.
There are a number of ways to provide feedback on the draft policy:
- Learn more and provide feedback via an online survey at www.rotorualakescouncil.nz/koreromai
- Visit Council’s Civic Centre on Haupapa Street and provide feedback directly to one of our friendly Customer Advisors
- Phone 0800 020 001 to provide verbal feedback
There will also be the opportunity to speak to your submission during hearings in July. If you do wish to be a part of the hearing process, please let us know in your submission.
Hard copies of the Statement of Proposal and draft Development Contributions Policy are available from Council’s Civic Centre on Haupapa Street and at the Rotorua Library – Te Aka Mauri.