Gembrook’s David Nickell and John Cascone are calling for a review of green wedge planning restrictions. 26319
By Tania Martin
GEMBROOK farmers are calling for an urgent review of green wedge planning provisions to save the future of agriculture in the region.
They say if nothing is done soon there will be no farmers left.
The plea follows an inquiry into the sustainable development of agribusiness in outer suburban Melbourne.
But farmers said the issue of green wedges had not been addressed.
They are now calling on all agricultural producers in the region to put in a submission.
Cardinia Shire spokesman Paul Dunlop said the council valued and supported farming and understood the issues for those farmers who had restrictions placed on their land.
He said the council had lodged its own submission to the inquiry in conjunction with the City of Casey.
The submission calls for the State Government to provide resources to develop green wedge management plans.
Gembrook’s David Nickell said it was not just the green wedge restrictions killing the industry. Farmers in Gembrook already had a number of restrictions on their land.
For the past 13 years the district has been classified as a diseased area with reports of “potato cyst nematade” (PCN) present in the area.
The disease eats away at the roots of the potato but is believed to have no effect on vegetable.
But farmers with PCN-infected crops are restricted from selling outside Victoria.
They also receive less than half the going rate for their crops because of the disease classification.
The restrictions also apply within a 2km radius of any PCN infestations.
For many Gembrook farmers this means that although they don’t have the disease, it still has an impact on their business.
Mr Nickell said the only way forward was for farmers to be able to break their land up into eight or 15-acre blocks for more intensive practices such as growing berries.
But he said the green wedge law stopped them doing so.
“Farmers’ hands are tied, they can’t divide their land and they are restricted by PCN,” Mr Nickell said.
Potato farmer John Cascone said the longer nothing was done, the less likely it was that the local industry would recover. “The longer they leave it the worse it going to get … soon it will be beyond repair,” he said.
Mr Cascone said reducing the green wedge restrictions on farmers was the only way forward.
“It will bring new life back into the area,” he said. “We have tried many different alternatives but this is the only one that really stands out.”
Mr Cascone said farmers were not calling for a blanket approach but rather a Gembrook-specific plan.
“Our issue is unique for this area … it doesn’t mean the government has to make it a general legislation across the state,” he said.
A State Government spokesman said an inquiry was underway and that after submissions a report would be tabled for further consideration.
The council has also urged farmers to lodge a submission before the 2 February deadline.
