Court rules in favour of council

By Sarah Schwager
THE Supreme Court has ruled in favour of the City of Casey after an ongoing battle with two Cranbourne East housing estates.
The court last Thursday awarded costs to the council in its appeals against two Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) decisions relating to developer contributions at the Hunt Club and Brindalee estates.
The scuffle came about over the construction of a road, Linsell Boulevard, and a shortfall in developer contributions that were set up more than 10 years ago when the estates were first being built.
City of Casey planning and development services director Peter Fitchett said the funds coming in for those estates fell below what was needed to complete all the infrastructure.
“It was seriously under-funded, one of our very early developer contribution schemes,” Mr Fitchett said.
He said Hunt Club Estate developer Dennis Family Corporation had wanted the council to cover funds for the road infrastructure through the developer contribution.
“If we had done that it would have left the cupboard bare for other infrastructure improvements at the estate,” Mr Fitchett said.
“We said no, if they want the road done now they must apply additional funds.
“What we don’t want to do is completely deplete the developer contribution funds so there is no more for other infrastructure.”
Casey chief executive Mike Tyler said the decisions reaffirmed that developers of urban growth areas must accept responsibility for funding the infrastructure needed to service these areas.
“The City of Casey is always prepared to negotiate with housing developers within the planning and legislative framework to secure beneficial outcomes for the community,” Mr Tyler said.
“However, it’s unfortunate that in these two instances both developers chose not to secure a negotiated outcome, preferring to pursue the matters via the judicial system.”
Mr Tyler said the council looked forward to reaching agreement in the near future with both developers, including on the much-anticipated western extension of Linsell Boulevard to Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road and the associated intersection works.
Mr Fitchett said the developer contribution scheme was now being amended to stop the situation happening again.
He said previously the scheme had been indexed on the consumer price index (CPI), but development costs had since outstripped CPI, and land costs had increased over time, as had the costs of infrastructure going onto that land.
The Dennis Family Corporation was unable to respond in time before the News went to print.