7 April 2005

The Water Directorate recently released the Section 64 Determinations of Equivalent Tenements Guidelines.

The philosophy behind the Guidelines was to ensure that every Council had a defensible and transparent basis to enable Section 64 charges to be determined. Historically Councils have individually determined ETs using a broad range of disparate data sourced from local experience, State agencies, larger Water Authorities and industry associations (often based on data collected in the 1970s and 1980s).

The adoption of standard figures across the State will provide a basis for explanation to proponents/developers and a defence should a S64 charge be legally challenged.

The appropriate process for adoption of the standard ETs will vary from Council to Council. In most cases, however, inclusion in Council's 2005/2006 Management Plan (fees and charges) and/or amendment to your Section 64 Contribution Plan is all that will be required.

To assist you in this process an electronic copy of a draft generic report to Council is available below. This draft report will simplify the adoption of the Section 64 Guidelines as the basis of part of the technical input to your Developer Servicing Plan.

We encourage you to adopt the Water Directorate's Section 64 Guidelines.  If you have any queries contact Gary Mitchell to discuss them.

Generic Business Paper - Adoption of Section 64 Guidelines

For more information contact: