Express MIDLAND
www.m midlandexpress.ccom.a au
Tuesd day, March h 8, 2022
FARMERS F ARMERS FORCED FORCED OUT? OUT?
Deva Weitman does not want to see Blue Rock Highland Cattle Fold and Suffolk Sheep Stud lost to development. Amy Hume A fifth generation farming family fear they will be forced to sell their prime Romsey land and historic homestead as development closes in. Mark Clement and Deva Weitman have run the successful Blue Rock Highland Cattle Fold and Suffolk Sheep Stud at Eden Park since 2007. It continues a long line of farming but planning changes, coupled with a crippling new tax, could cost them everything. "This property has been in continuous family ownership since it was settled in 1858," Mr Clement told the Express.
"If we didn't have a historical connection we'd just walk away and start somewhere new but it's hard to give it up and we don't want to see it lost to development either." Their fate hinges on the outcome of Macedon Ranges Shire Council's new Romsey Structure Plan and town boundary. Eden Park's 100 acres is included within a potential new town boundary in option three of the Draft Emerging Options Paper. Option three would see the township grow into existing Rural Living Zone land to the east, along Five Mile Creek and to the south into Farming Zone land.
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"We'd like to see the town boundary not take up valuable farmland and rich healthy soils," Ms Weitman said. Rezoning the area would also impose a hefty new state government tax on the family.
Windfall Gains Tax
From July 2023, a Windfall Gains Tax will apply to land that is subject to a government rezoning resulting in a value uplift of more than $100,000. The tax will apply at a marginal rate of 62.5 per cent on the uplift above $100,000 or 50 per cent if above $500,000. The intention of the tax is to return a share of the profits from rezonings to the
state government to be spent on infrastructure and services. Mr Clement said the problem was that genuine farmers could lose out. Landowners become liable for the tax at the time of the rezoning and payment is due within 60 days of assessment. Payments may be deferred for up to 30 years or until a property is sold, whichever occurs first, but the tax liability will accrue interest. While the government has allowed some exemptions, Ms Weitman said none of them applied to the Eden Park property. Continued page 4.
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