Page 3449 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 17 September 2019
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community land. The two-stage tender process allows proponents the opportunity to first test their proposal before submitting a detailed tender. At the tender stage proponents will build on their response to the threshold criteria at the expression of interest stage and be required to respond to additional criteria.
These criteria include evidence of their not-for-profit status, financial capacity to build on the land, as well as their capacity to continue to operate the proposed service in the long term. This means that all parties can have a realistic sense of whether the requirements and use provisions set out in the lease can be met in a sustainable and ongoing manner.
The fifth key element of the bill goes to the very heart of the grant objective, namely, to deliver a service that provides ongoing benefits to the community. This element, which has a number of aspects, is essentially how we make sure that the land in a community concessional lease continues to be used for the required community purpose. Lessees will not have an option of providing the service or be able to use the site on only a few days per year. Lessees will be required to deliver the community service for which their lease was granted and to provide an annual report on their land use to the Planning and Land Authority.
We must ensure that community land is being used appropriately and effectively. This is vital in making efficient use of our limited community land resources, and the government is committed to ensuring that concessional land, which has inherent social value, is used to its fullest potential
The government will ensure that this reporting is streamlined and straightforward. The community use report will be a record of uptake and service usage data that provides valuable information about the benefits being provided to the community from the land. The report will assist government with lease compliance. It will also have the benefit of providing a long-term base to inform other strategic planning data for future community land releases. In the event that the land is not being used and is surrendered or the lease is terminated as a result, the government will then have the option to reoffer the site to other organisations via the same two-stage tender process.
Similarly, in circumstances where the lessee no longer needs the land or in the unfortunate instance where the lessee is determined as not complying with the lease provisions, the organisation will be required to return the land to the government in line with section 293 of the existing act. These provisions reflect the aim of ensuring that all community concessional leases granted from now on are to provide ongoing benefits to the whole community for the entirety of the term of the lease.
As I have detailed to members of the Assembly today, this new legislative framework is a significant reform. This bill recognises the importance of our community’s social wellbeing and it recognises the valuable contributions that not-for-profit community organisations make towards this end. The bill gives them a fairer chance to access the resources they deserve. By prioritising the community of the day while being mindful of the future this bill will keep up with our city’s needs as they change.
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