Express MIDLAND
www.midlandexpress.com.au
COUNTRY
FOOTY& NETBALL
Tuesday, April 6, 2021
INSIDE TODAY
2021 LIFTOUT
realestate
Express MIDLAND
& Living .com.au
MIDLAND PROPERTY
pages 19-30
Landowners in Macedon Ranges continue to fight fi i to keep existing build rights on 40ha or more in the Farm Zone as both state and local government sharpen their focus on agricultural land. Pictured is Alex Straus at his family farm in Darraweit Guim. More page 3.
A changing landscape? Accommodation, restaurants and convenience stores could become part of Macedon Ranges’ farming and rural landscape, under the newly released Draft Rural Land Use Strategy. Greater ease for tourism and commercial activity would come with the new Rural Activity Zone recommended for land in the shire’s northeast between Woodend, Malmsbury and Tylden. A land analysis of the shire’s northeast
found "the Farming Zone is no longer considered the most appropriate zone for this area as agriculture, while a dominant land use, is mostly ancillary to the primary land uses including rural lifestyle and tourism". The council-commissioned RMCG report found that while agricultural capability of the land was strong, commercial scale was limited by land fragmentation, high land prices and rural land use conflict. "Agricultural viability of commercial enterprises is increasingly reliant on valueadding such as tourism," the report stated.
According to the report, land between Woodend and Malmsbury is also significantly fragmented and, since 2006, experienced the highest concentration of new dwelling development in the rural areas. "Broadacre agricultural enterprises have largely left the area and have been replaced by a mix of equine and smallscale specialist agricultural enterprises as well as hobby farming and rural lifestyle," it states. The Rural Activity Zone provides flexibility for agriculture and other land uses
to co-exist, such as primary produce sales and group accommodation, but some residents have questioned its appropriateness for the area and the timing of its introduction as the state government reviews strategic agricultural land within 100km of Melbourne. The contentious rezoning contributed to Macedon Ranges councillors’ struggle to endorse the strategy for public consultation in a 5-4 vote at their March ordinary meeting. Continued page 3.
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