新西兰政府将加强基础设施融资和收费机制，确保通过“快速通道”（Fast-track）推进的新开发项目能够承担其带来的基础设施增长成本。

住房及基础设施部长克里斯·毕晓普（Chris Bishop）和地方政府部长西蒙·瓦茨（Simon Watts）表示，政府将改善地方议会现有的工具，让议会能够从未来的快速通道开发项目中回收相关基础设施成本。

毕晓普表示，让经济实现增长、提高生活水平，是政府改革规划制度的重要目标。

“本届政府推动新西兰经济复苏、提高生活水平的核心理念之一，就是更经常地对增长说‘可以’。因此，我们正在全面改革规划规则，推进‘住房增长计划’，并取消不必要的繁文缛节。这也是我们设立快速通道机制的原因。”

他说，地方议会已经向政府反映，目前无法有效收回为经济增长提供基础设施所产生的成本，尤其是在一些没有纳入原有规划、或者开发顺序与基础设施规划不一致的项目中。

政府的基本原则是：

“增长应该为增长买单。”

毕晓普表示，政府正在建立一个更加灵活的基础设施融资和资金筹措体系，以配合新的、更灵活的规划制度。

政府目前正准备以新的 Development Levies（开发征费） 制度取代现有的 Development Contributions（开发贡献费） 制度。

有关新制度的咨询已经进行了广泛讨论，最终政策决定将很快公布，之后政府将提出相关立法。新制度预计于2029年正式实施。

毕晓普说，简单而言，政府希望由开发项目的经济效益，包括基础设施供应的实际成本，来引导城市和区域发展，而不是由过于严格的规划规则限制增长。

快速通道项目将面临更灵活的基础设施收费

瓦茨表示，在未来开发征费制度正式实施之前，政府将采取一项针对性的过渡措施。

政府计划修改《2002年地方政府法》，赋予地方议会更有效的工具，从未来符合条件的快速通道开发项目中回收与增长有关的基础设施成本。

他说，政府尤其关注三种情况：

一是快速通道项目可能在地方议会完成基础设施规划之前就开始建设；

二是新开发项目可能占用原本为已经划定开发区域预留的道路、水、电等基础设施容量；

三是项目所依赖的基础设施可能跨越地方议会行政边界。

根据拟议改革，地方议会在必要情况下可以修改现有的开发贡献费政策，以便从符合条件的快速通道项目中回收相应的基础设施成本。

对于跨地区基础设施，政府也将建立成本回收和资金转移机制，使受到项目影响的邻近地方议会能够获得相应的开发贡献费。

目前，一旦开发商提交资源许可申请，相关开发贡献费通常就会被锁定。

新制度将允许地方议会在快速通道申请获批后，根据实际情况更新开发贡献费。

不过，为了给开发商和地方政府提供确定性，这类调整必须在快速通道项目获批后的六个月内完成，并在获得批准后尽快公布。

政府称快速通道已推动数十亿美元投资

毕晓普表示，《2024年快速通道审批法》（Fast-track Approvals Act 2024）的设立，是为了推动具有全国或地区重要性的基础设施和开发项目。

他说，一些原本应该创造就业、增加住房供应和促进地方经济增长的项目，过去却陷入漫长且昂贵的审批程序。

“快速通道成为打破这一僵局的重要机制。”

他说，在短暂的运行时间内，已经有31个项目获批，涉及住房、基础设施、采矿和采石、水产养殖以及可再生能源等领域。

这些项目代表着数十亿纽币的投资，并将支持数以万计的就业岗位。

毕晓普同时强调，快速通道审批委员会已经可以通过附加条件，要求开发项目承担服务自身所需的地方基础设施，包括道路、供水、污水处理及其他公共服务。

如果一个项目产生的不利影响，包括基础设施影响，与其地区或全国层面的经济利益明显不成比例，审批委员会也可以拒绝项目。

不过，他承认，一些快速通道项目仍可能给更广泛的公共基础设施网络带来压力，而这些成本目前地方议会并不能完全收回。

“我们今天宣布的改革正是承认这一现实。”

已获批项目不受影响

政府表示，在相关修法生效时，已经获得批准的快速通道项目，以及已经向环境保护局（EPA）提交实质性申请的项目，将不会受到此次改革影响。

对于未来适用新规定的快速通道项目，现有开发贡献费制度仍将设置一系列保障机制，以确保基础设施增长成本的计算具有合理性。

开发商和地方议会也可以通过签订开发协议，为双方提供更早的成本和基础设施安排确定性。政府鼓励双方采用这种方式。

瓦茨表示，这一改革试图在促进开发和确保基础设施成本公平分担之间取得平衡。

毕晓普则表示，随着快速通道开发项目在全国范围内加速推进，新西兰需要一个能够跟上经济增长速度的基础设施融资体系。

从“开发贡献费”转向“开发征费”

这项改革实际上是新西兰规划和地方政府融资制度更大调整的一部分。

现行的 Development Contributions（开发贡献费） 最终将被 Development Levies（开发征费） 取代。

在新制度正式实施之前，此次改革将作为一个过渡性桥梁，扩大地方议会现有的开发贡献费权力，使其能够更有效地从快速通道项目中回收与增长相关的基础设施成本。

政府尤其希望解决两类问题：

开发项目先于基础设施规划推进，以及基础设施影响跨越地方政府行政边界。

相关修正案将通过《地方政府（制度改进）修正案法案》的修正文件提出，该法案预计于9月中旬通过。

新的开发征费制度预计于2029年正式运行。

Improving infrastructure tools for Fast-track

The Government will strengthen infrastructure funding settings to ensure the costs of growth from incoming Fast-track developments can be recovered, Housing and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Local Government Minister Simon Watts say.

“A key part of this Government’s plan to fix New Zealand’s economy and drive higher living standards is to say yes to growth more often. That’s why we are overhauling planning rules, progressing our Going for Housing Growth agenda, and removing unnecessary red tape. It’s also why we established Fast-track”, Mr Bishop says.

“Councils have told us that they are not able to effectively recover the costs of enabling infrastructure for growth, particularly when it comes to unplanned or out-of-sequence developments.

“The Government’s position is that that growth should pay for growth and we are building a flexible infrastructure funding and financing system to match our new, flexible planning system.

“The Government is in the process of replacing Development Contributions with a new Development Levies system. Consultation on this new system has been extensive and final policy decisions will be announced soon, with legislation to follow. The new system will be operational from 2029.

“In short, the Government wants the economics of development (including infrastructure provision) to guide growth rather than restrictive planning rules.”

“As a targeted, interim step on the path to Development Levies, the Government has agreed to amend the Local Government Act 2002 to provide councils with better tools to recover growth-related infrastructure costs from future Fast-track developments,” says Mr Watts.

“In particular, we’ve identified situations where Fast-track developments may proceed ahead of council infrastructure planning, where developments may take up network capacity intended for live-zoned land, or where developments rely on infrastructure across a council boundary.

“The Government will progress changes so that councils will be able to amend Development Contribution policies where necessary to recover infrastructure costs attributable to growth from eligible fast-track developments. They will also address cross-boundary infrastructure issues by enabling the recovery and transfer of Development Contributions where infrastructure impacts extend into neighboring council areas.

“At the moment, Development Contributions are locked in once applications for resource consent are made. The Government’s changes will allow councils to update Development Contributions after an application has been made through fast-track.

“To support certainty for all parties, these changes must be adopted within six months of a Fast-track approval being granted and, once approved, published as soon as practicable.”

Mr Bishop says that the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 was enacted to enable nationally and regionally significant infrastructure and development projects.

“Projects that should have been creating jobs, delivering homes, and growing local economies were instead caught in prolonged, costly consenting processes.

“Fast-track has been a much-needed circuit breaker. In the short time it has been operating, 31 projects have been approved across housing, infrastructure, mining/quarrying, aquaculture, and renewable energy – representing billions in investment and supporting tens of thousands of jobs.

“It is important to stress that panels are already setting conditions to address local infrastructure required to service developments, requiring roads, water, wastewater and other services to be delivered. They can also decline a project if its adverse impacts, including infrastructure impacts, are out of proportion to its regional or national benefits.

“However, some Fast-track developments can still put pressure on the wider infrastructure network, beyond what council can currently recover, and the changes we are announcing today recognise that reality.

“Fast-track projects that have been ‘Approved’ or for which a substantive application has been lodged at the time the amendment takes effect will not be impacted by this change.

“For Fast-track developments where these changes will apply, the Development Contributions regime has a series of guardrails to ensure there is reasonableness in determining growth costs. Additionally, developers and councils can enter into development agreements to provide earlier certainty, and we encourage that.

“This strikes an appropriate balance. We are maintaining the effectiveness of Fast-track, while ensuring infrastructure funding arrangements are fair.

“As Fast-track development accelerates across the country, we need infrastructure funding settings that can keep up.”

Notes to editors:

The amendments will enable councils to recover growth-related capital expenditure associated with fast-track developments.
The changes are intended to address situations where developments proceed ahead of infrastructure planning or create infrastructure impacts across council boundaries.
Councils will be able to amend development contributions policies to provide for appropriate cost recovery where existing policies do not adequately reflect the infrastructure demands created by a fast-track development.
Any authority recovering costs on behalf of another council will be required to transfer the relevant share of development contributions.
The amendments will not apply to fast-track developments that have already been approved or where a substantive application has already been lodged with the EPA.
These changes would be delivered through an Amendment Paper to the Local Government (System Improvements) Amendment Bill, which is expected to be passed mid-September.
These changes act as a transitional bridge to the future development levies regime by extending development contribution powers to support more effective recovery of growth-related infrastructure costs from Fast-track developments, especially those that are out-of-sequence or cross-boundary in nature. The development contributions regime will be replaced by the development levies system, which is expected to be operational from 2029.