Bundoora Faces Infrastructure Funding Gap Under Proposed New Levy Bill

A proposed Community Infrastructure Levy Amendment Bill, tabled in the state legislature in the second sitting week of June 2026, would restructure how local growth areas contribute to public infrastructure funding. Bundoora, classified under the bill as a Tier 2 urban infill zone, falls into a category that attracts a per-dwelling levy of approximately 1,400 levy units, compared to 2,100 units applied to greenfield estates on the outer growth boundary. The practical consequence for residents is that funding flowing to local roads, open space and community centres from new residential developments in Bundoora is expected to be lower per hectare than in comparable outer-ring precincts.

The timing matters for Bundoora. The suburb's residential pipeline has accelerated sharply, with more than 1,800 dwellings approved or under construction across the Plenty Road and Kingsbury Drive corridors since January 2024, according to planning permit data held by the relevant municipal authority. That level of growth has placed visible pressure on existing facilities, including the Bundoora Neighbourhood House on Janefield Drive, which records show has been operating at over 90 percent capacity for community program bookings since mid-2025. The bill's tiered structure would determine how much of the levy collected from those 1,800-plus dwellings can be directed back into the local precinct versus pooled into a consolidated regional fund.

How Bundoora Compares to Other Tiered Precincts

Three comparable suburban precincts assessed under the same Tier 2 classification, including Reservoir, Preston and parts of Greensborough, all carry similar levy rates under the proposed structure. The distinction, however, lies in population density trajectories. Bundoora's population grew by 6.2 percent between the 2021 and 2024 municipal counts, a rate that outpaced Reservoir at 4.1 percent and Greensborough at 3.8 percent over the same period. Policy analysts note that a flat levy tier applied uniformly to zones with significantly different growth velocities can produce unequal infrastructure outcomes, with faster-growing areas accumulating funding deficits more quickly than the levy is designed to address.

The bill includes a mechanism called the Infrastructure Contribution Review Panel, which allows local governments to submit evidence that a precinct's growth trajectory justifies reclassification. The legislation states that applications to the panel must be lodged within 18 months of the bill's commencement date, which the government says will be 1 February 2027 if the bill passes the upper house by October 2026. For Bundoora, that review window would open early 2027 and close by August 2028. Whether the local council submits such an application, and on what evidentiary basis, will determine whether the suburb's levy classification changes before the next major infrastructure planning cycle.

What the Numbers Mean for Bundoora Residents Day to Day

The State Budget papers released in May 2026 allocated 34.7 million dollars to the consolidated Community Infrastructure Fund for the 2026-27 financial year, a 12 percent increase on the prior year. Of that, Tier 2 precincts collectively are projected to receive disbursements covering roughly 40 percent of fund expenditure, split across 23 classified zones. Bundoora's share is not individually itemised at this stage, but local advocates note that specific project submissions, such as the pending upgrade to the Bundoora Park trail network and a proposed expansion of the Norris Bank Reserve sports pavilion, are both listed in the council's Long-Term Infrastructure Plan as dependent on levy fund contributions.

Residents with children attending primary schools along the Plenty Road corridor, or those reliant on bus interchange infrastructure near La Trobe University's Bundoora campus, have a direct stake in how the levy review unfolds. The bill does not affect service delivery timetables already committed in existing capital works programs, the legislation states, but projects not yet approved and funded sit in a holding pattern pending the new levy regime's commencement. The upper house committee examining the bill is scheduled to report by 19 September 2026, and the committee has called for written submissions from local governments and community organisations by 1 August 2026.