Wyndham council has called on the state government to reform the rules around which projects are eligible for funding from the Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution.
The GAIC, a fund made up of tax contributions from landowners and developers in seven of Melbourne’s growth areas, was introduced by the state government in 2010 to help support community infrastructure and services.
But Wyndham’s urban future’s portfolio holder, Cr Intaj Khan, said guidelines on which projects could receive GAIC funding were “incredibly restrictive”.
Guidelines state that potential projects will “generally” be considered if they will cost between $1 million to $10 million.
They also state that while applications for projects requiring more than $10 million can be submitted, they should first be put to the state government’s annual budget for funding consideration.
Cr Khan said that this meant that projects such as the $11.5 million extension of Armstrong Road, between Greens and Blackforest roads in Wyndham Vale, would be unlikely to receive GAIC funding.
“Unfortunately, GAIC funding is not available to fund many of the important infrastructure projects Wyndham desperately needs,” Cr Khan said.
“That’s why Wyndham … is calling on the state government to change these funding parameters.
“We’re currently seeking to meet with the Minister for Planning Richard Wynne and the Minister for Suburban Development, Lily D’Ambrosio, to discuss these changes.”
Ms D’Ambrosio said the government was “always open to working with councils to deliver important infrastructure in Melbourne’s growth areas”.
“We also encourage councils to continue their engagement with our annual Metropolitan Partnership assemblies to help us determine what our metropolitan regions’ future needs are,” she said.
More than $20.8 million in GAIC funding has been allocated to projects in Wyndham, including building CFA stations in Wyndham Vale and Truganina and land acquisitions for the future Wyndham South P-6 and Truganina East P-9 schools.
