What are Development Contributions

Development contributions are a mechanism for the sharing of infrastructure costs for district level infrastructure from owners of land within a defined Development Contribution Area (DCA). Land within a DCA often has multiple owners, and it is necessary to ensure that all landowners equitably contribute to the cost of providing common infrastructure within the area.

What is a development contribution plan (DCP)?

A Development Contribution Plan (DCP) identifies capital infrastructure required to support actual or anticipated growth in a specific area and shares the cost across the Developments driving the growth.  Typical examples would be work on roads, playgrounds and community recreation areas.  

The DCP details what infrastructure will be needed to support new development, why it is needed, how much it will cost and when it is likely to be built.  The Contributions (payments that Developers are required to make into the fund), are calculated using the cost of the DCP infrastructure needed, divided by the total estimated number of new dwellings in the DCP area to give a Contribution value per new dwelling.  For non-residential development, a rate per metre squared is used for the calculation instead of dwellings.

The Shire is the administrator of the fund on behalf of all contributing Developers. Money going into and out of the DCP fund, can only be used for items or costs directly associated with the DCP. 

A Developer is any landowner undertaking Development on land within a DCP area, either through Subdivision or a Development Application. As a general rule, a new building will be classed as a Development under the DCP. Patios and swimming pools are not classed as development under DCP (because they don’t create a need for additional capital infrastructure).

The Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) sets the rules and guidelines for what can and can’t be included in a DCP, the consultation process steps prior to approval, and how they are administered once approved.  This WAPC document (State Planning Policy 3.6) is available here.  The WAPC gives final approval for all DCPs and the document is passed into law once it is “Gazetted” by the WAPC.

Details of what is included in our DCPs and the areas that they apply, are included in two key documents; Town Planning Scheme (No. 2) which gives a detailed overview of the plan, and the DCP document itself which explains the detail and how it works in practice.

Town Planning Scheme No. 2 is available here.  Our active and planned DCPs are available at here.

Where do Development Contributions apply within the Shire?

Currently operating DCPs are Byford Traditional Infrastructure DCP4 and West Mundijong Industrial area DCP.  DCPs currently under Development are the Byford & Mundijong Community Infrastructure DCP and the Mundijong - Whitby Traditional Infrastructure DCP.

If your Development is liable to for DCP Contribution(s) it will be stated as a Condition of your Development and an estimate of the Contribution amount will be sent to you. Contributions are payable at the time you apply for Subdivision Clearance or a Building Permit – whichever occurs first.

Whom can I contact to find out more about Development Contributions at the Shire?

For further information, please contact Strategic Planning Services on 9526 1111 or by email DevelopmentContributions@SJShire.wa.gov.au