Robert Wilcher, Partner

This paper examines developments and issues with Voluntary Planning Agreements  and the obligation to provide developers’ contributions.

Voluntary Planning Agreements (VPA’s)

VPA’s have been operating now for the last 5 years and are increasing in sophistication as time goes by.

What is a VPA?

S.93F(1) defines a VPA as being:

(1)  A planning agreement is a voluntary agreement or other arrangement under this Division between a planning authority (or 2 or more planning authorities) and a person (the developer):  

(a)  who has sought a change to an environmental planning instrument, or

(b)  who has made, or proposes to make, a development application, or

(c)  who has entered into an agreement with, or is otherwise associated with, a person to whom paragraph (a) or (b) applies,

under which the developer is required to dedicate land free of cost, pay a monetary contribution, or provide any other material public benefit, or any combination of them, to be used for or applied towards a public purpose.

Parties

While VPA’s can be between any public authority, they typically involve a council or the Minister for Planning and the developer. They do not need to be between the consent authority and the developer.

Councils are involved for local infrastructure issues, while the Minister for Planning often enters into the VPA for the purposes of facilitating the dedication of land and or works for the benefit of other government departments.

In all cases, it is crucial for the developer to liaise with these other departments as well, to ensure that issues of site suitability and timing of delivery do not upset the overall development program and the progress of the VPA negotiations.



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