IT is our responsibility on the Mornington Peninsula to maintain a viable and prolific food bowl, already valued at $1.2 billion, for the city of Melbourne.
The Mornington Peninsula presents a terrific opportunity to provide a large supply of healthy, fresh food near the city yet the support needed from governments is lacking.
Seventy per cent of the Peninsula is Green Wedge, on the surface safeguarding farming as the primary planning purpose.
Urban Growth boundaries are meant to prevent urbanisation, and any carve up of farmland.
The State Government's Plan Melbourne 2050 recognises the importance of the Mornington Peninsula's farmland as a food bowl for Melbourne yet mostly ignores this by allowing rural living to become a growing major land use within the Green Wedge.
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A dwelling permit associated with farming under the Green Wedge regulations is meant to be dependent on a viable farm management plan, however, the Planning Appeals Tribunal (VCAT ) has consistently allowed dwellings with 'off–the–shelf' farm plans with little merit regarding food production.
There is insufficient enforcement and a number of these management plans are inoperative.
This has lifted farmland valuations out of the reach of many genuine farmers and rural living is becoming normalised.
The main problems include:
• lack of water;
• access to business incentives because of our metropolitan planning status
• competing uses with little connection to the land;
• shop model 'farm gates' that out–compete traditional farm gates run by genuine farmers. The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) seems to believe that having commercial shop style green groceries throughout rural areas will not harm the vital extra income that helps keep farmers on the land;
• lack of reasonably priced accommodation for farm workers;
• the need to maintain rural roads. Budgets for maintenance of rural roads are left mostly to councils who have inadequate resources to do more than meet minimum standards;
• spread of noxious weeds;
• finding alternative income sources to help maintain and increase the number of vital food bowl properties.
Possible solutions:
• Drought proofing the Peninsula using recycled water.
Melbourne's South Eastern Outfall takes treated water through the Peninsula to the ocean at Gunnamatta.
As our climate warms can we afford to ignore this resource that could immeasurably improve productivity and open–up new farming opportunities?
• Achieving regional or peri–regional status in order to gain access to a range of grants, subsidies and tax incentives. Being made regional should not affect our Green Wedge, even though it is presently only allowed in metropolitan areas, as the Planning Minister has complete control of these matters.
• 'Farm gates' should be restricted to genuine farmers; this is also under the control of the Planning Minister.
We do not need milk–bars selling bread and milk and products from the Dandenong Market dotted around our landscape and taking away a local income source.
• MPSC has the lowest rates applied to farmland in Victoria set at 35 per cent of rate valuation. Consideration should be given to lowering this even further.
The next step is to lower state and federal taxes on genuine farmland and increase taxes on broadacre rural living and land banked properties.
• If possible we should allow the provision of onsite accommodation for farm workers priced out of renting or buying homes.
This is a difficult matter that needs to be fully considered to ensure it doesn't affect other Green Wedge provisions.
• Consideration of using a set part of the State Government's booming land tax income for rural road maintenance. Land tax now raises more than the $6 billion in rates collected by all 79 Victorian councils.
• Lack of control of noxious weeds since DELWP took over weed control management in rural areas. Farmers trying to make a living from their properties are continually dealing with the costly removal of weeds spreading from neighbouring absent landlord properties and some rural living or hobby farms and roadsides. This is another burden affecting the viability of our farmland. Council responsibility should be returned.
• There should be incentives for agricultural and horticultural industries to set up experimental farms to investigate improved productivity and viability of new products in vital food bowl areas. Also there should be incentives for the leasing of unproductive land for agriculture.
Other important matters:
• branding and publicity for local produce and council support for all efforts to more widely publicise Peninsula products;
• the importance of small–scale agriculture needs to be recognised;
• council should have expert internal advice from an agricultural scientist when considering planning applications and initiatives including regenerative farming practices;
• biodiversity and conservation issues including carbon sequestration, protection of waterways and renewable power sources.
These are my thoughts based on experiences in a rural ward.
I am sure that many readers have and will add much more to this very important discussion.
I would also like to see a ban on firework display permits on or near farmland.
WorkSafe usually issue the permits and don't seem to have any idea about the noise issues for livestock and the possibility of grassfires.
