WSAA is pleased to provide a submission to the review of infrastructure contributions in NSW by the NSW Productivity Commission.
Currently in Sydney and the Hunter, all weight for funding water and wastewater infrastructure falls on user charges.
This submission concentrates on the necessity of sharing some of the cost with developers as beneficiaries of growth infrastructure. Equally, government funding should also be provided for core social blue and green infrastructure to meet the government’s objectives of cool, green, sustainable cities.
Considered against NSW state and local contributions for other infrastructure, the absence of contributions for water and wastewater for Sydney and the Hunter is a clear anomaly. Like local government rates, current water and wastewater charges are insufficient to cover the costs of growth infrastructure.