Victorian Farmers Federation president Eddie Matt says Peninsula’s $1 billion agricultural output under threat
OUR Green Wedge is under ‘constant assault’, according to local farmers.
South East
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MORE expert help is needed to defend the region’s $1 billion agricultural output says the Peninsula branch of the Victorian Farmers Federation.
VFF president Eddie Matt said the organisation had asked Mornington Peninsula Shire to help protect and promote agricultural land in the Green Wedge.
“We are Melbourne’s food bowl — one vegetable farm alone sends eight trucks each day to Melbourne for domestic consumption and export,” Mr Matt said.
“Despite this, the Green Wedge zone on the Peninsula is under constant assault from land uses that are not specified as purposes of the zone.”
Mr Matt said the group would like a dedicated agricultural officer, ideally with an agronomist degree and five years’ experience in a relative field, employed to promote the agricultural sector and advise on statutory town planning decisions.
The VFF also wants a dedicated planning enforcement officer on the council payroll to focus solely on the Green Wedge, including farm management plans.
“The planning enforcement team (at the shire) is significantly under-resourced, and is having to prioritise some cases and therefore neglect the balance of cases,” Mr Matt said.
“Planning permits for accommodation ... and farm management plans are being determined by statutory planners without appropriate back up. The Green Wedge zone is a rural zone, not a residential zone.”
Mornington Peninsula Shire economic development and tourism manager Tania Treasure said the council was one of only a few in Victoria to employ a specialist agribusiness and food industry officer.
She said the planning compliance unit was well-resourced.
“A previous review of farm management plans did not show a high level of noncompliance at that time — the Shire will continue to review these plans to ensure compliance,” Ms Treasure said.
The council is currently preparing the 2018 Green Wedge Management Plan and is inviting community comment to help update the document.
Ms Treasure said the council would also seek state government support to ensure the importance of conservation, rural character and agricultural land use in the Green Wedge was properly recognised.
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