WSUD Incentives
What are WSUD Incentives?
Incentives for Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) can be offered by local government and other organisations to facilitate the uptake of WSUD within their area of operation. Examples of the incentives for WSUD include:
 Financial Incentives
Read More > Financial Incentives such as rebates for the installation of rainwater tanks or water efficient appliances. Financial incentives can also include discounts on other charges such as a council’s stormwater service charge if a resident has installed any WSUD elements. Financial incentives for elements such as rainwater tanks are offered by the Australian Government, Sydney Water and a number of councils in Sydney.  Non-financial Incentives
Read More > Examples of non-financial incentives for the installation of WSUD elements include increases in the floor-space ratio allowed for commercial development, or increasing the impervious area of a residential allotment provided the development includes sustainability initiatives such as WSUD. |
 Education Programs
Read More > Education Programs provide knowledge and skills to the community to foster behavioural changes. Education programs include information kits and workshops offered by councils complementing rainwater tank rebates, and workshops on how to install WSUD elements on a property to improve the quality of stormwater run off.  Assistance Programs
Read More > Assistance Programs provide residents with free design advice, materials, or construction support to install WSUD elements. Examples of these types of programs include Sydney Water Programs – WaterFix, Toilet Replacement Service, Love Your Garden Service and DIY Water Saving Kit. |
In the case of WSUD, incentives are typically linked to existing dwellings, or retrofit situations, where opportunities for implementing WSUD or other sustainability elements are not readily enabled, or required, such as through a Development Application process.
Why do we need WSUD incentives?
Incentives for WSUD complement associated regulations including Development Control Plan provisions and the BASIX Scheme, which target new development and redevelopment through the Development Application process.
Read More >
In Sydney there are approximately 1.6 million dwellings, and in 2007-08, Development Applications were submitted for 8,000 new dwellings (or 0.5%), while 1% of the existing dwellings submitted DAs for alterations and additions (1). Up to 10,000 DAs are submitted for commercial, industrial and retail developments each year.
Based on the development within Sydney, the penetration of WSUD through existing planning provisions and the Development Application process is relatively minor compared to the existing housing stock. In 2007, the ABS identified that only 125,000 dwellings (or 8% of the total dwellings) in Sydney had installed rainwater tanks (2).
Incentives can be used by councils to target existing dwelling stock. Examples of incentives that are offered by organisations in Sydney are outlined in Table 1, and include the incentives examples identified above.
How to Develop WSUD incentives for Council
WSUD incentives complement sustainability initiatives of a council, including WSUD policy and DCP provisions, stormwater service charge, on-ground stormwater quality works, operation and maintenance, and education programs. WSUD incentives can be used to leverage works within private property, which can account for up to 75% of the landuse within a local government area. Read More >
A WSUD incentive program developed by council should seek to address the following issues:
- Understand why the incentive is to be offered, and thereby ensure that the incentive is appropriate for the LGA;
- Determine how the program fits into the broader WSUD works offered by Council, including the stormwater service charge, as well as other works within the catchment(s) in which the incentive is to be offered;
- Ensure that the program is supported by appropriate policies, and that there is the requisite allocation of resources (funding and people) and support, to ensure that success of the program. For example 100 rainwater tank rebates for $400 each will cost $40,000;
- How the incentive will engage with the community that it will be targeting.
Consistent with council’s stormwater service charge and/or environmental levy, it maybe helpful to develop a briefing paper outlining the need and benefits of the WSUD incentive as well as the resources required. This briefing paper should identify linkages to other programs and policies of council.
Incentives Case Studies
Case studies detailing the development and application of WSUD Incentives are as follows:
 Case Study 1 Rainwater Tank Rebate Programs
Read More > A number of rainwater tank rebates offered by federal, state and local governments. These rebates are typically for existing houses, with the rebates determined by both the size of the rainwater tank and uses for the captured rainwater (laundry and/or toilets and/or hot water).
Typically, the rebates are not exclusive and a building owner can apply for multiple rebates. For example, a home owner in Lane Cove who installs a 5,000 litre rainwater tank plumbed to toilets and laundry can receive $2,450 in rebates ($500 Australian Government, $1,400 Sydney Water, and $550 Council).
Click Here to download a copy of Case Study 1.
Click Here to download a table of existing Rebate examples.  Case Study 2 WSUD on your Property (Marrickville Council) Read More > Run for several hours on a Saturday morning, Marrickville Council delivers a series of regular workshops, to interested residents to encourage the implementation of WSUD on their private properties.
Click Here to download a copy of Case Study 2.
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 Case Study 3 Incentives for the Adoption of WSUD in New Development Read More > Councils and other Consent Authorities can provide incentives to developers for the incorporation of WSUD into their development. Examples include:
- Floor Space for Sustainability Initiatives (The City of Ryde Council); and
- Public Open Space Credits for WSUD (Western Australia Planning Commission)
Click Here to download a copy of Case Study 3.
 Case Study 4 Melbourne Water Stormwater Quality Offsets Read More >
WSUD is a requirement of new residential subdivision development within Melbourne. Melbourne Water’s Stormwater Quality Offsets Program, provides an option for developers to fund Melbourne Water to undertake regional water quality works within the catchment, which offset pollution loads that are not treated within a development.
Click Here to download a copy of Case Study 4.
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