Five years after it was abolished, Hauraki District Council has voted to reintroduce a policy that sees developers pay money to fund growth-related infrastructure.
Councillors on Wednesday adopted a development contribution policy, following five years of a “significant” increase in population.
With a policy in place, people applying for consents or connections for development – such as subdividing land or undertaking building work – will need to pay money to fund infrastructure such as land transport, water supply, wastewater, and urban stormwater networks.
The key objectives of the policy was to ensure the existing community was not burdened by the cost of growth; that growth, and the cost of infrastructure to meet that growth, was funded by those who cause the need for that infrastructure; and development contributions were fair and equitable.
It is projected the district population will reach 22,750 by 2031 and the number of dwellings will reach 10,990 by 2031 under a medium growth scenario.
After 2031, population growth is projected to plateau and the dwelling and rating unit growth rate will begin to slow.
