Wollondilly Shire Council has endorsed the Appin Growth Area Contributions Plan to fund $1.53 billion worth of local infrastructure for the area, following a period of consultation where the community and relevant industry members provided feedback on the Plan.

The contributions will go towards transport, open space, stormwater management and community facilities land for a revised estimated population of 55,950 and 18,650 homes in the Appin Growth Area over a 30-year period.

The contributions are based on strategic benchmarks for implementing costs set by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART). The refined Contributions Plan will now be referred to IPART for assessment and approval, as it is in excess of the $20,000 per lot/dwelling cap.

Mayor Matt Gould said, “Appin is one of the largest single growth areas to be released in Greater Sydney with no existing essential infrastructure to leverage development off. It is currently a rural living environment, which means a large amount of new basic infrastructure is required to transform it to an urban growth area.”

“Council’s position has consistently been that housing development in Appin is premature without a fully funded, binding infrastructure plan linked to the delivery of housing.”

“Providing local infrastructure for a new community comes with significant cost, so Council is looking to make sure this is in place before people move into the Growth Area.”

“As much as we want developers to take responsibility for providing all the infrastructure needed to support new developments, the contributions need to be at a level that will be approved by IPART, which is how we arrived at $1.53 billion. Council is unable to artificially escalate costs.”

“Unfortunately, there are limits on what Council is allowed to include in the Plan and not everything needed to support the community will be covered through it, with other important infrastructure including community, recreation and aquatic facilities and major road connections still to be funded, including Broughton Pass.”

The Appin (Part) Precinct was approved by the NSW Government in June 2023 comprising 12,900 new dwellings with more precincts expected to be rezoned in future.