Media Release
3 June 2005

Last-minute rush to beat developer contributions brings delays

Manukau City Council advises there may be delays in processing building consent applications over the next few weeks after its Building Consent Authority (BCA) was inundated with applications last week.

1 June saw the introduction of developer levies on building consents. Council’s Director of City Services Wayne Goodley says “we decided to be pro-active about the introduction of the levies by announcing early this year that the cut-off date was 31 May. Last week, the BCA was flooded with consent applications, many of which are for developments that are not planned to begin until later this year.

“Understandably, people have taken advantage of being able to submit applications before the cut-off date. However, we do ask everyone to be patient while we work through the applications to ascertain project time-lines in order to prioritise those requiring immediate attention,” says Mr Goodley.

The new policy on developer levies requires property developers or owners to pay a levy when they apply for a resource or building consent to:
Subdivide or cross-lease their sections
Build a ‘granny flat’ or self-contained unit on their property (A self-contained unit is a dwelling where a person or group of people can live, and including a bathroom and kitchen.)
Build new commercial, retail or industrial buildings
Expand an existing office or factory
Change the use of a property from commercial to residential

“We have not forgotten the learnings from last year. So despite the large volume of applications and the resulting heavy workload, we will not compromise on quality for the sake of fast-tracking these consents,” says Mr Goodley.

People making changes to their existing homes – for example developing a basement, adding a room or building a deck or swimming pool – will not be required to pay development contributions.

ENDS

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