Developers of large swathes of land at Wyndham will be able to fork out extra money to fast-track their subdivision applications as part of a three-year pilot project to boost the city’s housing supply.
The state government and Wyndham council have signed a “memorandum of understanding” (MoU) on priority-paid projects that will allow the Dennis Family Corporation, Lend Lease, Satterley and Stockland to pay fees in exchange for faster turnarounds on subdivision and engineering works permits.
Other residential developers are expected to join the trial in coming weeks, with 4000 lots due to be fast-tracked.
It is expected the trial will rake in an extra $1.2 million to Wyndham council coffers, which will be used to hire temporary staff to process applications within 60 days.
Meanwhile, developer contributions and the state government’s growth areas infrastructure contributions are expected to fund the local roads and infrastructure for the new estates.
Werribee MP Tim Pallas said the pilot project would ensure that the supply of housing stock in Wyndham keeps pace with demand.
Wyndham council city operations director Stephen Thorpe said the MoU would help the council to streamline its permit approvals process and unlock land in key areas, most notably in Truganina, Tarneit, Werribee and Wyndham Vale.
Mr Thorpe said there were several thousand lots being assessed by planners, and more than 10,000 lots “at various stages of delivery”.
“The memorandum of understanding will provide the opportunity for council to ensure that these lots can be delivered quickly and efficiently,” Mr Thorpe said.
“Last financial year, more than 5000 lots were released.
“We aim to release significantly more lots once this project is carried out.
“The MoU will also provide certainty to the development community that planning and approvals processes will not delay the delivery of new residential land,” he said.
“It highlights council’s commitment to facilitating investment in Wyndham as a key growth area.”
