Tamworth council's bottom line dealt a whack and two jobs at risk without compliance levy on development applications

Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) argues the announcement was made "without any prior consultation" by the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) that new rules would come into effect from July 1.

Despite "assurances from DPIE" that the department would undertake further consultation, TRC argues a final decision was made on July 16 without any further talks.

On Tuesday, councillors will vote whether to write to NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes to express their "extreme disappointment at the lack of genuine consultation".

"The implications of this decision by the state government for TRC is an annual loss in revenue of $270,000 that is used to fund council's compliance function on behalf of the community," a report to councillors said.

The council has charged a compliance levy on DA's for the past two years, which has funded two compliance officers, a part-time business support officer and equipment for the team.

The report argues DPIE agreed to defer the ban on existing compliance levies until the end of 2021 for further consultation with the affected councils.

Read also:

An amendment to the existing rules meant compliance fees couldn't be charged on DA's after December 31.

In the same month, TRC argues the state government passed new legislation which means the NSW Building Commissioner's Officer can charge compliance levies.

"Further compounding this loss, local governments will be required to collect the new compliance levies for the Building Commissioner's Office and remit those funds to the state," the TRC report said.

"What this means is that council will now be forced to revise the extent of its current compliance services, much to the detriment of our community and environment."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: