Question regarding the funding mechanism for regional land acquisition in WA, specifically whether the metropolitan region improvement tax will be used or a new levy introduced. The answer confirms legislation is being considered but the specific mechanism is still under review.

AnsweredQoN 789Legislative Council
Asked
14 August 2014
Portfolio
Planning

QuestionView source ↗

REGIONAL
LAND ACQUISITION
789. Hon AMBER-JADE SANDERSON to the minister representing the Minister for Planning:
I refer to the blueprint for planning reform released this
week and the government's plan to prepare legislation to enable funding
of regional land acquisition. Will the new funding mechanism allow the
metropolitan region improvement tax to fund regional land acquisition or will a
new improvement levy or tax be levied on regional landowners?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the member for some notice of the question.
As part of the recently announced planning reform phase 2,
legislation is being considered to facilitate a reservation funding model for
regional areas of WA where land required to support state infrastructure
priorities, but not in crown ownership, can be acquired. This funding model may
be similar to the existing metropolitan region improvement tax or the
metropolitan region improvement fund. The government is now in the process of
considering the mechanism that will facilitate this. The state's
capacity to reserve land outside of Perth, for both regional open space and
major regional infrastructure projects is extremely important, particularly in
areas of high population and economic growth. Currently, there is no funding
available for regional planning schemes including the Peel region scheme and
the greater Bunbury region scheme, or other regional planning initiatives,
including improvement schemes.

Explore WA Government Data

Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.

Explore more