Bellarine Peninsula no longer faces 'Nutbush' limits

Nutbush, of course, was a town were "motorcycles not allowed in it."

But farmers on the Peninsula found it was a case of over-dimensional agricultural machinery - not motorcycles - which were banned.

"Because we were designated as a metropolitan area, we were not allowed to move anything wider than 3.5 metres," Victorian Farmers Federation Bellarine Branch President Graeme Brown said.

But he said after negotiations between the VFF and VicRoads, that limit was expanded to 5 metres.

"We had a really good experience with VicRoads," Mr Brown said.

Mr Brown has a cropping and fat lamb operation at Bellarine, but as a share farmer, he said he needed to move machinery around between properties.

"There aren't too many farmers down here - you could count them on the one hand - but you still have to move gear around," he said.

"It's still an agricultural area."

Inverleigh grains and canola grower Stewart Hamilton had also met with restrictions, when trying to move machinery around the peri-urban area, near Geelong.

He said his biggest machinery was 4.9m and 5.4m wide.

"The closer to town we got, the more restrictions we met, even though we were still in farming land," Mr Hamilton said.

"The restrictions were tougher towards the coast, and also south of the Princes Highway.

"We were just not allowed to take modern-day machinery down there."

He said a lack of consultation and awareness of the size of modern machinery was at the heart of the issue.

"The number of vehicles that need special permits is excessive, especially when they are off the shelf machines and nothing out of the ordinary," Mr Hamilton said.

"The rules and regulations don't allow some of the machines, that are imported into Australia."

VicRoads acknowledged there were problems with machinery movements, in peri-urban areas, around Melbourne and Geelong.

Department of Transport spokesman Eric Henderson confirmed the width limit on the Bellarine Peninsula had recently been increased to 5 metres.

"We're continuing to work closely with the VFF as we review the current size restrictions for these vehicles in areas west of Geelong," Mr Henderson said.

The Bellarine Peninsula was initially classified as part of the Melbourne and Geelong Urban area, where the size of agricultural equipment had been traditionally limited to a width of 3.5 metres.

VFF Grains Group president Ash Fraser said the organisation had been working with local farmers to increase permissible dimensions in peri-urban areas around Melbourne and Geelong.

VicRoads has also agreed to consider the potential movement of agricultural machinery, during the design phase of projects on corridors used by heavy vehicles.

Agricultural machinery access must now be factored into network or route alterations, in rural areas, that will have an impact on road width.

That's been enshrined in a VicRoads design note, covering the state's 23,000 kilometres of arterial roads and freeways.

"Road Design Notes detail how we design and plan for road projects in Victoria and help us on national guidelines set out by AustRoads," a VicRoads spokeswoman said.

"We've released this note to address the 'Big Build', to ensure road upgrade projects being built can carry the largest vehicles on our network.

"It will help ensure all new roads, and road upgrades across the state will cater for growing oversized vehicles, particularly large agricultural equipment."

The spokesman said the new note provided links to a number of resources, including heavy vehicle maps and the Oversize Agricultural Vehicle map.

Mr Fraser said farmers had been lobbying hard to ensure common sense applied, to ensure agricultural machinery was considered when rural roads were being upgraded.

"It's going to vary, from area to area, depending on the type of farming enterprise," Mr Fraser said.

"But it's making sure each road is fit for purpose for that area."

Height, weight and width would now be considered.

"If you put a large road through the middle of an agricultural area, it asks how access is going to be a factor, for agricultural machinery, between farms," he said.