With the installation of an Agriculture Commissioner in 2020, the industry has been handed an opportunity to address land use planning woes.
As both the population and the food production sector grow, land use conflicts are on the rise - and, under the current system, encroachment on prime agricultural land is the likely result.
A recent public consultation on the issue confirmed that growing pains are being felt in peri-urban areas.
It also found that the planning system does not adequately understand the needs of agriculture and can often generate a disproportionate burden for farmers.
The consultation also revealed that local councils are seeking greater leadership from the NSW Government on land use issues.
Over recent years, we have witnessed a lack of leadership in the planning space resulting in uncertainty for farmers.
The Koala SEPP introduced in 2020 was a notable example, threatening to undo the major work done to reverse prohibitive native vegetation laws a few years earlier.
Frequent changes to regulation are a result of this leadership gap, threatening both individual farms, which need certainty to thrive, and the communities pinned to them.
Prioritising urban growth ignores a basic reality: the wealth of rural and regional areas is built on food and fibre production. To jeopardise the use of productive land for agricultural purposes is to hamper the future of these communities.
The NSW Agricultural Commissioner has done significant work to date, but land use needs to be a focus area moving forward.
In planning to protect high value agricultural land, it is necessary to have a vision around what can be achieved through diversification and intensification on all rural land, where water and power infrastructure should be improved, and where the resources and investment of Government in NSW can be coordinated to harness the skills of farmers and the development of produce that will build agricultural production.
The Agricultural Commissioner is the conduit we need between industry and government - it is time to use this critical position to achieve a sensible planning system that fosters sustainable growth for the industry.
- Pete Arkle, NSW Farmers' CEO.
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