Melbourne's five peri-urban councils have been selected to represent Australia's fastest-growing population areas in a new federal planning policy push.
Peri Urban Councils Victoria has been included in federal government round table discussions, aimed at shaping a new National Urban Policy.
PUCV is made up of Bass Coast, Baw Baw, Golden Plains, Moorabool and Surf Coast shires, which supply 41 per cent of Melbourne's food needs - including 80pc of its vegetables.
The PUCV member regions are expected to grow by almost 50 per cent, or more than 100,000 people, by 2036.
Chair Michael Leaney said it was pleasing to see the unique growth pressure, faced by the peri-urban regions in Australia, would have a voice on an important national forum.
"We will be advocating strongly that peri-urban issues need to be front and centre when the government puts together its new National Urban Policy," Cr Leaney said.
"When you ask a bureaucrat about what is meant by peri-urban and they look at you blankly - we are not metro enough, not rural enough, but somewhere in between."
A key regional issue, facing Victoria's peri-urban councils, was managing population growth while protecting valuable agricultural land.
"I think it's a good thing the federal government has decided to set up some form of group, it has decided to develop a national planning policy, because clearly this is not just an issue for Victoria, but interstate as well," Cr Leaney said.
"In terms of protecting agricultural land, this is a universal issue - we reached out to our counterparts, like-minded shires in Queensland, NSW, South Australia and Western Australia, and had some roundtable discussions informally with them."
He said individual planning policy varied from state to state, and an overarching national approach needed to be taken.
Cr Leaney said he wanted to see peri-urban councils recognised, as distinct from other areas.
"At the moment, Australia is divided up into metropolitan, rural, regional and remote, regional cities are well known, interface councils are recognised by the government but peri-urban is those ones that are on the cusp," he said.
"The difference between peri-urban and interface council is if you look at somewhere like Wyndham, you have the township of Werribee and literally paddocks behind it.
"But they are slowly being turned into housing and new towns like Tarneit are being created.
"In peri-urban areas, we often have existing settlements, existing rural settlements that have a long history, that have since become major growth areas."
He said councils wanted to retain their character, agriculture and lifestyle.
"Look at an area like Bacchus Marsh and all the market gardens that are right in the centre of town, we can't put them all under housing," Cr Leaney said.
"There is no longer a line of metro and it stops and become rural - those days are gone.
"There is a blend, and that's where peri-urban fits in."
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.
