What are the key differences to this draft Policy from the existing Policy?
The key areas of difference are:
See Proposed Changes to the Existing Park Lands Lease and Licence Policy above.
Who does this draft Policy apply to?
This draft Policy applies to any organisation that is currently leasing or licensing or considering leasing or licensing community land in the Adelaide Park Lands. This includes commercial (for profit) organisations, community (not for profit) organisations and educational institutions.
Individuals will not be considered for a lease or licence in the Park Lands.
How does this Policy fit with the Adelaide Park Lands Management Strategy and Community Land Management Plan?
The Adelaide Park Lands Management Strategy and Community Land Management Plan provide the overall guidance on what can occur in the Adelaide Park Lands and where. This Policy informs the process for how we will grant a lease or licence in the Park Lands.
Why do we need a leasing and licencing policy?
After a leased or licenced area has been identified in a Community Land Management Plan, the Policy is the document that informs what process to follow before commencing lease negotiations. The Policy will then provide a starting point to commence lease negotiations by identifying what the high-level terms and conditions of a lease or licence should be (i.e. rent, permitted use, length of tenure, and other obligations relating to the building and or land).
Why are these changes to the current Policy being proposed?
The existing Lease and Licence Policy and Guideline were scheduled for review two years after being adopted in 2016, with the intention of identifying opportunities for improvement following implementation of a new policy.
In 2021, we undertook a review of the current policy and researched best practices relating to leasing and licensing of community land under the care and control of local government in Australia.
The draft Policy incorporates best practice and addresses areas where there was some ambiguity in the interpretation of the existing Policy. It also includes some new information that the existing Policy is silent on.
Will this Policy affect existing agreements?
There are elements of the draft Policy that, if adopted, will result in changes to the way existing lease and licence areas are managed.
This includes:
What will the new lease and licence fees be and will leasing and licensing cost more?
Lease and licence fees for commercial organisations will continue to be informed by an independent market assessment.
Lease and licence fees for community organisations will be set annually as part of Council’s annual adoption of fees and charges. A discount on these lease and licence fees may be applied, where a lessee or licensee is able to demonstrate that they have satisfactorily met the following objectives:
Evidence provided by the lessee/licensee will be based on the past 12 months performance.
Where it is a new lessee/licensee, they will need to provide evidence at the end of their first 12 months to receive a discount on their first and second year of fees.
A guideline will be developed to inform how we assess the objectives against the information that lessees and licensees provide.
Providing the objectives are satisfactorily met, it is our intention for the fees charged (after the full discount is applied) to be similar to existing lease and licence fees.
What are the proposed new casual hire and sub-letting fees?
Casual hire and sub-letting fees will be developed by Council staff and based on benchmarking with other councils and related facilities.
