The Lease and Licence Policy informs Council’s decision making relating to leases and licences of Council owned or managed buildings and land. It sets out what types of land can be leased and licensed, how an application can be made, what types of information the application must include and the criteria by which that application will be assessed by Council.

It also includes information regarding how key terms of an agreement like rent will be calculated at the commencement of a lease or licence.

The scope of the Policy is Council owned land and Crown Land under Committee of Management where Council has the ability to lease or licence to commercial operators or community groups. It does not include, discontinued roads and rights of way or Council facilities that may be used by the community in accordance to other arrangements such as, hire agreements, seasonal allocations for sporting clubs and Bathing Boxes (which has a separate policy).

Council is empowered by the Local Government Act 2020 to lease and licence land. The Policy is a key part of the decision-making process and sets out how decisions will be made. Having a Lease and Licence policy that is publicly available provides transparency and consistency to members of the community and specifically to individuals or organisations that wish to lease or licence land from Council.

Applicants for leases or licences will fall into one of three categories. The categories are relevant for calculating the commencing rent and the criteria for assessment that will apply to the application for a lease or licence.

Group One – Commercial

Group One Tenants occupy the premises on a commercial basis.

Some examples of premises that are leased to Group One Tenants include the following:

• Commercial sport and recreation e.g. Royal Avenue Tennis Centre, Golf Clubs.
• Infrastructure e.g. telecommunications towers.
• General commercial e.g. Ricketts Point Tea House, North Road Café.

Group Two – Not-for-Profit Community Groups

Group Two Tenants includes community groups that serve the community, or an underprivileged or disadvantaged group and these Tenants do not have the capacity to generate a significant amount of income and operate on a not-for-profit basis.

Some examples of Group Two Tenants include the following:

• Kindergartens.
• Playhouses.
• Community youth groups.
• Senior citizens.
• Scouts and Guides.
• Neighbourhood Houses and Learning Centres.

Group Three – Other Clubs and Organisations

Group Three Tenants includes recreational or community groups that service the community and are readily available to Bayside residents. These tenants include member based fee-paying clubs and organisations that have the capacity to generate revenue from use of the facility or other activities consistent with the organisational purpose (but do not operate to make a commercial profit). Some examples of Group Three Tenants include the following:

• Tennis clubs
• Bowling clubs
• Lifesaving clubs

Community Agreement Criteria is a set of conditions we use to assess community lease and licence applications to ensure they will deliver on social expectations and provide value to the municipality.

Community Agreement Criteria incorporates four elements: Sustainability, Community Benefit, Utilisation, and Capital and financial contribution. These combined elements are used to ensure Council maximises the social, cultural, recreational, environmental, and economic outcomes when evaluating community lease and licence applications.

The inclusion of specific and categorised Community Agreement Criteria in the draft revised Policy will enable greater transparency, an enhanced focus on whole community benefit, and clearer social and economic outcomes when assessing community leases and licences.

Council is responsible for 351 building and facility assets with a current replacement value of over $294 million. The table below shows the building categories and percentage by replacement value. It shows that recreation facilities are the most significant class of buildings in terms of number (34.764%) and replacement value (35.71%)

The key changes in the Policy include:

• Both community and commercial tenants will now have a standard application form to complete when applying for new agreements. The application forms will include all of the relevant information Council requires to assess both commercial and community tenants against relevant criteria.
• Clause 6.3 of the Policy includes new Community Agreement Criteria, which are organised into four categories, each of which represents an area of focus for Council when assessing community lease and licence applications to ensure building or land use provides optimal value to the Bayside community.
• Clause 6.4.3.5 will now give Group 3 applicants the ability to apply for a ‘subsidy’ to the rent amount to be charged. Council will have discretion to apply a subsidy based on a sliding scale, taking into account the degree to which:
  • Community Agreement Criteria are being met
  • the applicant is agreeing to take primary responsibility for the maintenance of the building
  • limitation on the revenue generating ability of the applicant because of the community activities it undertakes.
• Council will no longer support an application by any tenant or licensee for a gaming licence at any of Council’s leased or licensed facilities.

There are no changes proposed to the calculation of base rent for any category of tenant.

Changes that have been made are intended to provide consistency and clarity on the type of information required for the assessment process. This is intended to save applicants time and money though not required the preparation of bespoke business case proposals.