VFF slams ‘laughable’ Victorian government plan to force farmers to get fence permits

Andrews Government bureaucrats want to protect “valued scenic, rural vistas” by forcing farmers to get permits to build fences. Here’s where.

Rural vista rules: Planning bureaucrats want farmers to build post and rail fences and muted coloured sheds away from ridge lines, all to protect the view for tourists.

Bass Coast farmers face having to gain a permit to build a stock fence and construct sheds along ridge lines under proposed landscape planning controls drafted by Victorian government bureaucrats.

The Draft Bass Coast Statement of Planning Policy states “a permit is required to construct a fence, except for a post and rail fence up to 1.8 metres in height” within significant landscape overlays that have been created to protect the rural vista in areas close to the coast, tourist hot spots and major roads.

SLOs have been declared across Phillip Island’s south coast, south of Rhyll, through Bass Hills east of Grantville and along the Kilcunda and Cape Paterson Coast.

The document states that one of the SLOs has been set up to: “protect the valued scenic, rural vistas and the coastal landscape of the Phillip Island Swan Bay Coast and Churchill Island from development detrimental to the much-valued landscape attributes”.

Even farm sheds or other rural buildings, must not be “sited above 200 metres Australian Height Datum” and “constructed using external materials and colours that minimise its visibility in the landscape”.

Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano said “the fact that some farmers will potentially have to apply for permits to build fences on land zoned for farming is laughable”.

It is unclear why DELWP bureaucrats have deemed stock fences as detrimental to a rural vista.

But Ms Germano said: “It seems that decision makers have prioritised tourism and views of the landscape without any regard for farming and the huge contribution it makes to the local area.

“We need commonsense planning policy that allows our industry to continue to provide the food and fibre needed to secure our food security and feed people.

“Repeated failures to address or consider these matters, in response to consultation or preparation of documents such as this, reinforces industry belief and farming community experience that there is an urban bias in the planning system.”

The SLOs listed in the planning documents cover:

WONTHAGGI and Bunurong coast

SAN Remo to Kilcunda coast

BASS Hills, Bass River Valley and coastal plains

PHILLIP Island western and southern coast

PHILLIP Island Swan Bay coast and Churchill Island

ANDERSON Inlet northern coast