Farmers in the Macedon Ranges shire say they're wary of the local council's proposals for future planning controls, even though the shire has dumped its controversial Rural Land Use Strategy.
Late last year, Macedon Ranges Shire council dropped the RLUS, saying while a state government review of Melbourne's Green Wedges and strategic agricultural land remained unfinished, they could not proceed.
The council also said there were bushfire considerations that remained unresolved, potentially overlapping some parts of the RLUS.
Mayor Annette Death said it was pleasing to see the high level of engagement from the community on the strategy, with council being thorough and considered in its review.
"I'd like to thank everyone involved for their input and note that this will form invaluable feedback and research for any future work," Cr Death said.
"We acknowledge that the strategy will no longer proceed, particularly while there is still work happening beyond our scope that could ultimately impact it going forward."
The strategy proposed rezoning large areas of farmland, restricting primary producers who wished to diversify.
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Pipers Creek farmer and Macedon Ranges Agricultural Alliance chair James Walsh said primary producers were now concerned about proposed waterway protections.
"We have other issues now to deal with," he said.
"The Water Catchement amendment, has council wanting to include agricultural fencing as a planning permit trigger, if it is proposed within 10 metres of a waterway," he said.
"Their vision is to create riparian environments on all waterways in the shire.
'On paper that sounds great, but we are not talking named creeks, rivers or lakes - we are talking every single blue line on the map."
He said it was "ludicrous" to think farmers could fence off every waterway.
"On my property, waterways all run from south to north and the farm layout is east to west - so the fencelines all go through these little blue lines on the map - they don't run alongside them."
He said it appeared many local authorities, including Macedon Ranges, were looking at farmland as if it was council owned land.
"That's our challenge - to change their mindset," he said.
"You can't just do whatever you want to private land, there has to be engagement."
He said he was concerned about the council "slapping" farms with such things as vegetation protection overlays.
"I don't know what they want to protect, because it's not their land," he said.
Councillors would opposed plans to fill their own house yards with trees, thus making them unusable.
"If they want to go down that route, they will be met with stiff opposition."
He said VPO's were asking farmers to give up all their land, because they would not be allowed to manage such things as suckers.
Pastoria East sheep producer Daniel McKenna said it was "more of Spring Street, (the state government) trying to run the country".
"We have had that since colonisation - you only have to look at my titles and where the fencelines and roads go.
"It was drawn on a flat bit of paper, down in Spring St".
He said farmers were up against a misunderstanding of the nature of the country in question.
University of Melbourne geographer Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher had pointed out it was European mismanagement of the environment that had caused catastrophic fires and the loss of flora and fauna, rather than grazing.
"It's actually been the neglect, rather than the use, of the land," Mr McKenna said.
"While the Green movement keep using this myth of wilderness and the human element in the environment, and the denial of a managed landscape, for 60,000 years we are going to create more disasters."
'I was shocked at what I call the left-wing attitude of the councillors," he said.
The alliance would not be disbanded.
"We want to pressure the council to reinstate and agricultural advisory committee, of some sort, because we account for more income for the shire than does tourism," Mr McKenna said.
"I don't feel we are free from it, because my farm has a significant vegetation, significant landscape, fire and proposed water catchment overlays, so we have basically got it by default."
The state government has been contacted for comment.
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Andrew Miller
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
