2020-01-13 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                               13 JANUARY 2020


5                        DEVELOPMENT ASSESSMENT FEES & CHARGES VARIATIONS FOR 1 APRIL 2019
                         TO 31 DECEMBER 2019
Author                           Manager Development Assessment, Kerri Coyle
DOCUMENT INFORM AT ION




                                 Environment & Sustainable Development

Index                            ECM/ Subject/ 7.07 - Fees & Charges

Attachments                      Nil


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Not Applicable

RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Manager Development Assessment to the General
Committee Meeting dated 13 January 2020 regarding the waiver or partial waiver of development
application fees for 1 April 2019 to 31 December 2019 as detailed in the Report.

REPORT
As part of Council’s budget each year, Council adopts its Fees and Charges for the financial
year, including its regulatory and commercial charges for lodgement of development applications.
The fees and charges policy for development applications cover a number of policy provisions
including delegation to the Director, Environment & Sustainable Development to “partially or
wholly waive a development fee where strict application of the scheduled fee is obviously
unreasonable for the type of application being received.”
This report identifies proposed applications where a fee variation has been granted for the last 8
months. Between 1 April 2019 and 31 December 2019 there were 7 proposed applications where
a partial waiver or full waiver of the development application fees was granted, with 6 agreed to
and 1 request agreed to in part. The tables below sets out a summary of each application and the
reason for the fee waiver.

  Application No                 Applicant    Application Details    Fees & Charges Policy      Fee proposed

MCU19/0073                       RPS         Residential Care       $17860 – 52 beds            $20880
                                 Group       Facility (52 beds),    $5136 – Community Hall
                                             Chapel & Community     $4844 – Chapel
                                             Hall                   $27840 x 3 = $83520
                                                                    (Impact inconsistent)
                                             521 Elm Street, 10 &
                                                                    $83520 less 50% = $41760
                                             22 Rose Gum Road
                                                                    (Religious Organisation)
                                             Black Mountain

The applicant has requested a fee reduction of 50% from the scheduled fee which would amount to
$20880. The uses are inconsistent and impact assessable in the Rural and Rural Settlement Zone and
therefore subject to a multiplier of 3. However, as the applicant is a religious organisation, they are
eligible for a 50% reduction in fees which would bring the fee down to $41760.The applicant has
requested a further 50% reduction resulting in a fee of $20880, given the relatively low number of beds
proposed and the small GFA for the chapel and community hall components. The applicant is of the
opinion that the fee is not commensurate to the effort required by Council to assess the application.
While the application will require a significant time to assess the application being an inconsistent use,
the applicant has engaged early with Council officers through a number of pre-lodgment meetings. In
preparing the application preliminary review indicates the applicant has addressed the matters raised
by Council officers and therefore the proposed fee is considered appropriate to cover Council’s likely
assessment costs.


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