The developer contribution rates for Toolern were first calculated in 2010, and were based on an expected future population of 55,000. But the precinct is now expected to grow to 68,000 people – roughly the population of Shepparton.
The City of Melton said that without its proposed increase in developer levies, it might not be able to build the infrastructure future residents and businesses will need. Alternatively, it would have to cut council services in other areas or go into debt to raise the necessary funds.
High Street, Melton’s traditional commercial heart.Credit: Jason South
Councillor Sophie Ramsey said Toolern’s development plan was well over 10 years old and needed an update to reflect changes on the ground.
“We are continually growing and … there is so much demand for quality council services and quality council infrastructure that we need to bring things into line,” she said at the June 24 council meeting.
Developers who would have to pay the higher levies have lambasted the proposed hikes and warned they would ensure that future buyers pay tens of thousands of dollars more for a new home in Melton.
Developer Growland calculated that the higher levy, combined with recent changes to the construction code mandating seven-star efficient homes, would add $25,000 to the cost of each block of land in Toolern.
Insight Planning said the council and the state should be doing more to minimise housing costs. “The increase in the levy rate will need to be passed onto future home owners as increased land costs, at a time there is an affordability and housing supply crisis,” it said.
The developer of Swarna Estate in Strathtulloh said the change would “kill” housing construction there, undermining the state government’s goal to build 800,000 new homes. “Estates like Swarna are needed to create new homes. Housing affordability is in a crisis,” the company said.
Swarna said the cost of developing land in Melton had increased by 20 to 30 per cent in the past year. “The proposed increase in this amendment will kill development and create a further burden to the delivery of housing in Victoria,” it said.
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Sunaina Sharma and her family of four moved last year into a new estate called Millstone, which neighbours the partially built Swarna estate.
Life for Millstone’s new residents is affected by the piecemeal, stop-start nature of housing growth in Toolern. It has no community facilities of any kind. The estate is surrounded by empty paddocks, with one road in and out, and no playground for Sharma’s preschool-aged children.
“It’s a big problem,” Sharma said. “There is no park, it is almost a 15-minute drive to the nearest playground.”
The road into Millstone is in poor condition, and Sharma said she and her neighbours had emailed the Melton City Council urging them to fix it. She said she would move out if her family could afford to.
“We don’t have any options. If I could, I definitely would move out of here,” she said.
An expert planning panel will rule on whether Melton can update its planning scheme with higher development levies.
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