Contributions Plan No.21 – Marsden Park
Blacktown City Council (the council) submitted its revised Contributions Plan No 21 – Marsden Park (CP21) to IPART for assessment in March 2026. This is the third time IPART has reviewed CP21 in full. IPART first reviewed CP21 in 2012 and conducted another review in 2017. We also completed a targeted review of revisions to open space embellishment costs in the plan in 2021 and a targeted review of stormwater basin and soil disposal costs in both Contributions Plan No.20 – Riverstone and Alex Avenue Precincts (CP20) and CP21 in 2024.
The contributions plan covers an area of approximately 2,352 hectares and is projected to deliver an additional 11,536 dwellings for an additional population of 33,742 residents. This will increase the demand for transport, stormwater and open space infrastructure in Marsden Park Precinct (MPP) and Marsden Park Industrial Precinct (MPIP).
Costs in the plan
Since we last completed a full review of CP21 in 2017, construction costs have increased significantly, particularly post-COVID 19 and with recent supply constraints. There have also been increases in land values in the Blacktown Local Government Area (LGA) over the last decade. These external factors are reflected in the proposed increase of around 33% (in real terms) in the total cost of the plan since we completed our last full review of CP21 in 2017.
The proposed total cost of the plan is $1,345,912,767 compared to the total cost of $1,013,041,058 (indexed by CPI to September 2025) in the in-force CP21. The average indicative contributions rate across all catchments and dwelling types in the proposed CP21 is $93,653.50. Contributions can be paid as a monetary contribution, dedication of land or works-in-kind agreements or a combination of these.
Our Recommendations
We have made 2 recommendations, that the council update CP21 to account for the 3 errors identified in the works schedule following the exhibition period and that the council index works yet to be completed by the relevant Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Producer Price Indexes (PPIs) rather than the ABS Consumer Price Index – (All groups) for Sydney (CPI) to more accurately measure movements over time in the costs of works identified in CP21.
The Minister (or Minister’s nominee) will consider our recommendations and then advise the council on whether any changes are needed before it can adopt this revision of the contributions plan.