On 10 December 2024, Property Council submitted to the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission on their Testing our thinking: Developing an enduring National Infrastructure Plan discussion paper.
Why this matters to our members
This is important to our members as it informs future government action on implementing a 30-year National Infrastructure Plan and what planned investment is needed over the next 5-10 years. If the National Infrastructure Plan is appropriately supported, it will create greater pipeline certainty for the infrastructure sector.
Our view
We broadly support the aim to create greater pipeline certainty for the infrastructure sector.
At a high level, we recommended that the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission:
- Adopts a robust, sustainable, and forward-thinking approach to infrastructure investments that strategically aligns with urban development needs and responds to population growth;
- Establish a position to maximise infrastructure investment that supports urban development;
- Supports amending the Local Government (Community Well-being) Act to ring-fence the collection of development contribution fees;
- Allow developers to respond to local housing market demand when zoning areas for development;
- Makes full use of funding and financing mechanisms available to it to pay for infrastructure in a way that enables growth;
- Considers the impact on the property industry when designing an infrastructure funding and financing model; and
- Involve the property sector at the initial stages of infrastructure delivery to see how it can add value.