Contributing Development and Contributing Population

The contributing development or contributing population for a facility depends on: ƒ whether the facilities have a nexus with the population of the whole of the

LGA, a planning precinct within the LGA, or any other defined area within the LGA (or the spatial nexus);

ƒ whether the need for the facilities is generated by the incoming population, or is generated by both the existing and incoming populations; and

ƒ the planning horizon over which the contributing populations can be expected to benefit from the facilities contained in the works schedule identified in this contributions plan.

Table 8.1 shows the contributing populations for the transport and traffic

Table 8.1: Contributing Populations

Facility Spatial nexus

Need for facility generated by existing/incoming populations Planning horizon Contributing development/ population

Roads and intersection facilities

Base contribution

Shire Incoming 2004-2026 8,339 dwellings Area 1 Appin Incoming 2004-2026 554 dwellings* Area 2 Warragamba/ Silverdale Incoming 2004-2026 1,153 dwellings Area 3 Balance of Shire Incoming 2004-2026 6,632 dwellings

Shared cycleways and alternate transport facilities

Precinct 2 Existing + incoming 2005-2026 1,325 persons Precinct 3 Existing + incoming 2005-2026 12,032 persons Precinct 4 Existing + incoming 2005-2026 5,945 persons

* Note: there is no area contribution for Appin; the dwellings figure here is to show the projected dwellings in the Appin

9. Bushfire Protection

9.1

What is the Nexus between Development and

Demand?

9.1.1 Causal Nexus

Most residences in Wollondilly Shire are within close proximity to bushland and new development therefore has an inherent nexus with services that provide bushfire protection. Weather conditions can occur which places all residential areas within the Shire of Wollondilly under threat of bushfire attack.

New development will generate the need for the following bushfire protection works:

ƒ fire stations for NSW Rural Fire Service appliances; ƒ communications and appliance storage buildings; and

ƒ bushfire trails and asset protection zones on Council owned land.

The existing population has contributed to the existing bushfire protection buildings and equipment through contributions and rates in previous years. It is therefore reasonable for the incoming population to contribute to Council’s share of the cost to provide new/augmented capital works for bushfire protection purposes (which are required to satisfy existing levels of service) in the future.

9.1.2 Spatial Nexus

The bushfire protection facilities will be provided throughout the Shire to maintain pre-existing levels of service. As the population increases there will be a need for additional fire fighting facilities in the Shire’s growth areas. The works, therefore, have a physical nexus with new development across the Shire. The locations of facilities are broadly described in the Works Schedule (Section E.2.1).

Facilities will be provided in locations where they can most effectively meet the needs of the surrounding population and are dispersed throughout the Shire to enable early response times. Bushfire protection facilities will be provided throughout the Shire in locations which are accessible to the contributing population.

9.1.3 Temporal Nexus

The timeframe for the provision of additional fire fighting facilities to meet the needs of the future population will be determined by the amount of contributions and Government subsidy available at any time to finance these facilities. Council will endeavour to implement capital works in accordance with population growth to maintain existing levels of provision. It is anticipated that the strategy identified in this contributions plan will be implemented over 10 years, between 2005 and 2015.

The staging and priority of works will be reviewed on an annual basis along with the other matters for review identified in Section 2.9. Council will seek to

implement facilities according to the rate of dwelling and population growth being experienced in the different regions of the Shire. Council acts on the basis of making commitments to projects as funds are available, and to this extent the delivery of facilities under this contributions plan is heavily dependent on the rate of development and the resultant funds received.

Council considers the merits of a set of alternate proposals as part of the annual Management Plan budget planning process, and priorities are established accordingly. The timing of projects in the Works Schedule is therefore indicative. Programs will be revised in light of policy reviews, development trends and availability of funds.

9.2

What is the Strategy for Delivering Facilities?

Most of Wollondilly, east of Lake Burragorang, is serviced by rural (or volunteer) fire brigades. While some of the LGA’s towns and villages (such as Picton and Warragamba) are afforded services provided by the NSW Fire Brigade, in practice, all developed areas have the potential to be impacted by bushfire. It is therefore appropriate that all new development contribute to the provision of bushfire protection services.

There are nineteen bushfire brigades divided into three groups.

Each bushfire brigade in Wollondilly currently has its own shed, tankers and other bush fire fighting equipment. There are also some facilities which service all of the Bush Fire Brigades. These are the Emergency Operations Centre in Picton and the Base Station and radio transmission equipment at Razorback.

Council as a land manager is required to effectively manage bushfire hazard reduction on lands under its control. This includes many of the Council-owned bushland parks throughout the Shire. As a result, Council will construct/augment bushfire trails and asset protection zones on Council owned land as a means of bushfire hazard reduction.

9.2.1 Works Schedule

The Works Schedule for Bushfire Protection facilities is described in Section

E.2.1

9.3

How are the Contributions Calculated?

Contributions are calculated as follows:

Contribution per person ($) = C – GS - E P

Where:

C = the total cost of providing the facilities in this facility category

GS = the anticipated subsidy to be paid to Council for the provision of bushfire protection services by the State Government

E = the amount of existing contributions which have already been made for the facilities in this facility category

P = the contributing population (see Section 10.3.3)

Contribution per dwelling is determined by multiplying the contribution per person by the assumed average household occupancy rate for the following development types:

ƒ Dwelling houses and single vacant allotments – 3.1 persons per dwelling or lot.

ƒ Other dwellings – 1.8 persons per dwelling.

ƒ Seniors Living dwellings – 1.5 persons per dwelling.