Investors about to trickle into the Peel Business Park will be met with differential rates, as part of the Shire of Murray’s recently rejigged scheme.
The 1000 hectare park, recently opened in the new Nambeelup Industrial Area, will be located 10 kilometres north-east of Mandurah and forms the first phase of the Transform Peel initiative.
After an outcry by local business earlier in the year, the Shire of Murray introduced a scheme that aimed to set rates in a manner that was deemed to be “fair and equitable” for each business.
Shire of Murray president David Bolt said diverting from a set rate structure had been “well received” and that he hoped the changes would entice potential investors eyeing a spot in the new park.
“We took rates down for business. It’s been received very well. It’s a modest reduction but it just means those businesses that are doing it tough are getting a little bit of support from the shire,” he said.
“That affects any business in the shire of course and we’ll look at that each year.
“[That way] we can predict if there are valuation changes coming up then we can try to cater for that and understand the impacts for business.”
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The rate changes were introduced off the back of various consultation within the local industry and through the appointment of an economic development manager at the Shire of Murray.
Rates are a tax on property levied by local governments to fund their activities and operations.
Each business or resident’s individual rate notice is determined by Landgate’s Gross Rental Value (GRV) revaluation, which occurs every four years.
The Shire of Murray’s rates for each property is calculated by multiplying the GRV for a standard rate in the dollar, which determined by the local government and applied to all businesses and households in the region.
The next valuation audit is due to be investigated in 2021.
“There was in the previous year a [GRV] revaluation, which affected our local businesses pretty hard,” Mr Bolt said.
“We took the decision to actually bring in differential rates which allowed us to tweak the rate in the dollar for businesses.”
On top of differential rates, Mr Bolt said he hoped the council’s decision to offer a rate holiday to the first five businesses to commit to the project across their initial three years in the park woo potential investors to the region.
He said it was all part of the council's efforts to do what was in their control to kick-start investment in the decade-long project.
“We think that is going to be an important incentive for the first companies to bring the project to their attention,” he said.
“In addition to that, we approved to give them a free building and development application.”
Stage one of the Peel Business Park was officially opened on November 13.
LandCorp chief executive Frank Marra said already, investors were showing interest in the project.
Stage one will see lots, ranging from 2,400 square meters to two hectares, up for grabs across 120 hectares of land.
Follow Caitlyn Rintoul on Twitter via @caitlynrintoul.
