Mornington Peninsula agroecology Taskforce eoi's called upon

Mornington Peninsula council agribusiness and food Industry facilitation officer Sarah Saxton said the Taskforce was an essential element to guide the implementation of the strategy, ensuring a collaborative model that would bring together industry producers.

"The Taskforce will enable us to provide a mechanism to hear what the industry needs and wants, what the priorities should be and also for us to collaborate with industry partners in seeking funding, sharing resources and achieving things quicker than we could on our own."

Council is looking for up to thirteen members of the Taskforce who will then collectively elect a chair person to lead the charge, with a heavy interest from local producers already received.

"We'll review the eoi's and hope to have [the Taskforce] appointed by the end of June," Ms Saxton said.

"We'll have an inception meeting with a priority setting workshop, look at what's happening across the industry, what we can amplify, what we can get going across the industry and go from there.

"The strategy is recognising that there's already a lot of players in this space, we don't want to duplicate and do things other people are already doing and it's about setting the vision and making sure we're working towards the same things."

The overarching goals of the strategy sets out to ensure the future of food production along the Mornington Peninsula while building regenerative agriculture, economic benefit and encouraging community-wide embrace of locally grown produce.

Mornington Peninsula Mayor Steve Holland, said the strategy would position the region as a leader in agroecological food production, and create a thriving and resilient sector for the future.

"We want to support and nurture the growth of agriculture on the Peninsula, while actively regenerating the land and resources on which our community depends," Mayor Holland said.

"This Strategy is underpinned by our vision for the Green Wedge as a place where sustainable agriculture is a key land use, and the productive capacity of our land is preserved and enhanced.

"It also links closely with our Climate Emergency Response and will strengthen the Peninsula's resilience to future climate or supply shocks.

"In essence, it is a collective action plan to transform the way food is produced on the Mornington Peninsula."

Expressions of interest will close Wednesday, June 7 2023.

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