Infrastructure charges increase

Deputy Premier, Hon Jackie Trad MP, has announced that the Government will bring forward the indexation of local government infrastructure charges to this financial year.

While the Government had previously outlined that infrastructure charges would increase by the 3-yearly PPI average from 2017, during the budget estimate hearings the Deputy Premier announced that local governments will now have the ability to increase infrastructure charges this financial year (2016/2017).

The indexation will allow Councils to charge up to $2 more per m2 of GFA for retail premises, $1.55 per m2 of GFA for office premises, or a total $311.2 extra per house with three or more bedrooms.  The Government’s media release can be found here.

The Deputy Premier also announced that the State referral trigger for proposed developments which share a common boundary with a Queensland heritage place, will be reinstated following consultation with the property industry and the Local Government Association of Queensland.  This referral trigger was removed by the previous Government.

Referred applications will be assessed by the State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA), with the changes due to commence later this year. More information can be found here.