Overview of Blog

This Blog site is to collect information on “Creating Rural Environmental Communities” to encourage the adoption of Community Title land ownership.  Although the focus is on NSW legislation, people from other states or overseas should be able to use this eBook as a format for their own investigation and may wish to produce a section applicable to their area.

Since legislation was passed in 1989 there have been increasing numbers of Community Schemes established in NSW but Rural Residential subdivisions continue to dominate the subdivision of rural land with some owners not environmentally caring for their land by overgrazing or not controlling noxious weeds.

The intention of this Blog is that many more people will realise the benefit of Community Schemes and will request land developers to provide this option.  Groups of people with similar interests such as Permaculture, Organics, Biodynamics, Church Groups, Lodges or Environmental Builders could request their ideas be included in a land developer’s “Community Management Statement” or could create their own scheme.

Community Schemes allow common water supply and other infrastructure. The majority of the subdivision is managed by an association, possibly with professional land management assistance.  Land owners only need to look after their individual house block.

I gave soil and water conservation advice to owners of small properties surrounding Canberra for 30 years and had previously owned a small rural residential block.  I believe many people would be better off buying into a community scheme instead of buying a rural residential block that may be beyond their management capabilities.

People might wish to use sections of this Blog site to network ideas with others and possibly find enough like minded people in an area to either develop a community scheme themselves or provide enough purchasers for a developer to develop a scheme with their preferred “Community Management Statement”.

The specific requirements for Palerang Council are given as an example of some of the special requirements councils may require.  Like any legal identity the development of a community scheme is complicated and many people will use professionals to help with the legal structure and land development.  Knowledge of the requirements for the “Community Management Statement” is useful to ensure the desired outcomes for the community are achieved.

This Blog on the page "Worthwhile resources and advertising this Blog" lists a number of useful sites and hopefully more sites will be listed in the future.  Please advertise this Blog, possibly with the draft statement included, with organisations, Blog sites or magazines known to you.  By listing on this page where this Blog has been advertised, firstly it avoids duplication but also allows people to know of these other resources.

Please use this Blog by submitting short comments as postings but longer comments may need to be emailed to me for me to include at the start of a page or for inclusion in later editions of the eBook.  My email address is gregharrisau@gmail.com.