That this bill be agreed to in principle.

Mr Speaker, the Community Title Bill 2001 (the Bill) provides for the packaging of land to allow people to have separate ownership of a primary lease, whilst having a shared interest and responsibility over common land on an adjacent Crown lease.

Community title legislation is in place in Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales and Tasmania and has been very popular. Queensland has over twenty nine thousand registered community title schemes, South Australia has over five hundred and New South Wales has approximately five hundred and fifty community title schemes.

In New South Wales, the Merryville Estates in Murrumbateman and Rally Park in Kensington (NSW) are of particular note.

Merryville Estates consists of 77 lots that have been developed over the past nine years. The over arching principles of the development are self-sufficiency, continuous improvement and creating a resurgence of community spirit. Merryville Estates has programs aiming to reduce pollution, reticulate the water supply, increase biodiversity, revegetation and rehabilitation of the land. Merryville Estates won the Housing Industry Association Award in 1996 for Estate of the Year in the Canberra Region.

Rally Park in Kensington is a sizeable urban development consisting of four twelve story blocks of units and a large number of attached and detached two-storey homes. The units share a common park, recreational facilities and a child minding centre.

The Community title is similar to unit title, as they both provide for community living, however community title has the security of ownership of a separate lease and greater flexibility in use of the land and variations to the scheme. The Community Title Bill 2000 provides for a wider mix of land uses in one scheme. For example, a community title scheme may contain different types of housing, including units, recreational facilities, shops, parks, car parking and a community centre, whereas a units plan may only contain units, common property and unit subsidiaries.

The key features of a community title scheme under the Bill are that: