Opportunity lost to protect peri-urban agriculture, say planning experts

Eighteen months ago the government finalised consultation on the Green Wedge and Agricultural Land Action Plan, promising the release of more details in "coming months".

The government received nearly 1000 submissions and carried out face-to-face consultations with nearly 200 people.

The proposed planning changes were expected to protect Melbourne's 12 green wedges from overdevelopment, while keeping farms on the city's urban fringes working and feeding the city.

But RMIT University Associate Professor in Sustainability and Urban Planning Andrew Butt said it appeared there was no appetite to tackle the peri-urban and green wedge protections in an election year.

"We had COVID, we had, potentially, the slowest rate of growth for Melbourne for over a decade and a really strong opportunity to be firm about the protection of strategic agricultural land, into the future," Associate Professor Butt said.

"It's very disappointing this opportunity should be lost.

"Protecting our food bowls and strategic agricultural land is a long-term issue we need to deal with now, regardless of where general planning reforms land in an election year."

Christine Ross breeds heritage-breed Large Black pigs on Melbourne's outskirts at Macclesfield, trading under the Yarra Valley Free Range Pork brand and selling her products at farmers' markets.

Ms Ross said she was unsurprised the state government appeared to have gone quiet on the proposed protections.

"Saving peri-urban agriculture is absolutely vital," she said.

She said she used to live in East Bentleigh, which was then market gardens.

"They had all that beautiful soil, now I see that it's all been built over," she said.

"It makes me cry, because people have no idea what they are doing putting housing on all these places, because there will be no decent growing areas left if they are not protected."

She said governments "talked the talked, but didn't walk the walk".

"People [ask me if I] do this outside of work - this is our work, this is our job, it's our livelihood," she said.

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Ms Ross runs the operation with her daughter and son-in-law Sally and Darren Willis, with their three children.

Ms Willis said there was very little support for small farmers, as they faced issues like controlling foxes and deer.

She said the area had changed, as small farmers moved out.

"When we first came, we had lots of people doing stuff on their farms, people's properties were alive, but now everyone has tightly-bundled, little squares of land," she said.

Three Bridges orchardist Kevin Sanders said the matter was raised recently at a Yarra Ranges Shire rural advisory committee meeting.

"There was only just mention of it - something like 'details still to come'," Mr Sanders said.

He said that left farmers not knowing what was going on.

"You can make decisions, but you don't know if you are making the right ones," he said.

"What you can do is wait but you can't run a business waiting on what is going to happen for the rest of your life.

"It's not terrific, we can't make any comment until something turns up."

Glen Goulburn Poll Hereford stud co-principal Lynn Vearing has recently moved most of his operation from Epping, near the Hume Freeway, to Whittlesea and Glenburn.

Mr Vearing said two-thirds of the Epping property would now be turned into light industrial use.

"The right to farm has to be a priority," Mr Vearing said.

"If one person objects to you running a tractor, to cut some hay at 10pm at night, that's not an objection, that's farming practice you are doing quite legally."

He said he had taken up 65 hectares at Whittlesea.

"We are going through exactly the same process and I've looked back through some old records and we've been in the green wedge three times," he said.

He said nothing would change to protect green wedge and peri-urban areas unless planning rules were altered.

"The planning behind the scenes, how you farm, what you do, and what can be subdivided needs to change," he said.

The University of Melbourne food systems senior lecturer Rachel Carey said a key part of comprehensive planning policy for Melbourne was protection of peri-urban agricultural land.

"It's a fundamental building block in a resilient and sustainable food system," Dr Carey said.

"I think it's extremely important that we see strong protection for all remaining agricultural land around Melbourne as soon as possible, particularly given the pressures on food security we are now facing.

"There are multiple shocks and stresses on the food system from climate change but also the COVID-19 pandemic impact on supply chains and, of course, geopolitical shifts, such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine."

The state government was contacted for comment but did not respond in time for deadline.