THE SOUTHERN
Part of the Farmer Group Rural Newspapers Covering Victoria Published since 1986
FEBRUARY, 2018
FIRE AWARENESS
PAGES 12-13
www.farmernews.com.au
BULL AND ON FARM SALES
MACHINERY
PAGES 14-20
PAGES 21-23
Protect the Green Wedge Peninsula VFF wants local shire to employ planning officers with ag experience Ű
PUSHED OUT: The VFF’s Peninsula branch wants the Mornington Peninsula Shire to employ two additional planning officers with agricultural experience, so that they may better understand, and protect, the Green Wedge farming zone. Pictured is president of the local VFF branch, Eddie Matt.
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offer expertise in making informed statutory town planning decisions. A similar position – a shire employee with ag experience - was previously employed at Mornington Peninsula Shire - one of only three in the state, but the position was later shared out to other departments. The VFF would also like to see a dedicated planning enforcement officer employed, whose role would be to focus solely on the Green Wedge, including farm management plans. “The planning enforcement team (at the shire) is significantly underresourced, and is having to prioritise some cases and therefore neglect the balance of cases,” Mr Matt said. “Planning permits for accommodation, section 173 agreements and farm management plans are being determined by statutory planners without appropriate back up. “The Green Wedge zone is a rural zone, not a residential zone.” Continued page 2
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THE Peninsula branch of the Victorian Farmers Federation has formally asked the Mornington Peninsula Shire to employ two new officers, whose role would be to protect agricultural land in the Green Wedge. Submitting a recommendation to the 2018/2019 shire pre-budget, the VFF has asked for help to defend the shire’s $1 billion local agricultural output. Green Wedges are defined as being non-urban areas of metropolitan Melbourne that sit outside the urban growth boundary, with 17 areas identified across a number of shires. “There is a huge diversity of agriculture on the Peninsula,” president of the VFF Peninsula branch, Eddie Matt, said. “Beef, sheep, goats, vineyards, horticulture, approximately 30 per cent of all Victoria’s chicken meat comes from the Peninsula, and it is home to the largest strawberry farm in the Southern Hemisphere.” The VFF would like to see a dedicated agricultural officer, ideally with an agronomist degree and five years’ experience in a relative field, who would be on the shire staff to promote the agricultural sector and to
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