Council lodges submission on Animal Industries Discussion Paper
Campaspe Shire Council has lodged a submission in response to the Animal Industries Advisory Committee’s Discussion Paper.
The purpose of the advisory committee is to provide advice to the Minister for Planning and Minister for Agriculture on how the Victorian planning system can support the establishment and expansion of productive, competitive and market-responsive animal industries in Victoria, while balancing environmental outcomes and community expectations.
Campaspe Mayor, Cr Leigh Wilson, said Council welcomed the opportunity to make a submission in response to the discussion paper.
"Campaspe is located at the heart of one of the richest and most diverse agriculture and food processing regions in Australia," Cr Wilson said.
"With agriculture and related manufacturing the most important sectors of our economy, Council was pleased to lodge a submission to the Animal Industries Discussion Paper, to continue our strong advocacy stance on protecting, and advocating for, viable agricultural land.
"This includes ensuring the protection of, and access to, irrigation and potable water."
The Animal Industries Advisory Committee was established following community concern that the regulation of animal industries is complex, uncertain and does not adequately respond to and support changing industry practice or community expectations.
"With trends suggesting the continued growth of intensive animal production systems, it’s critically important that the Victorian planning system works to minimise any off-farm impacts on the environment or community," Cr Wilson said.
"It must also be responsive to the changing nature of rural living zone, community expectations, and growth of tourism-based agricultural enterprises.
"There are now more non-farming and hobby farm residents living in farming zones.
"Tourism-based agricultural enterprises such as wineries with cellar door sales and restaurants, eco-tourism, and farm stays are also taking advantage of Victoria’s rural amenity and increasing in number.
"Taking all of these issues into account, Council’s position in relation to the proposed policy directions outlined in the Animal Industries Discussion Paper, is generally one of support," he said.
Some of the policy directions generally supported by Council include:
- provide stronger strategic guidance by undertaking regional agricultural land capability assessments and identifying appropriate areas for intensive agriculture in local planning policies
- strengthen the purpose of the Farming Zone to promote agriculture activity as the priority activity and remove reference to encouraging dwellings as a means of promoting population growth
- identify, in planning schemes, defined buffer distances for different types and scales of intensive animal industries
- increase the right of the Environment Protection Authority as an enforcement body.
Some of the policy directions not supported by Council include:
- base the requirement for a permit for animal husbandries on the potential environmental and amenity impacts of the operation derived from an assessment with an online tool
- create specific land use terms for poultry farms (broiler, egg and hatcheries), cattle and sheep feedlots, piggeries and other clearly intensive uses, to avoid reliance on a generic intensive animal husbandry definition, where possible.