Draft policy will impact producers, not just miners: Mayor

The Draft State Planning Policy for the Bligh Government’s Strategic Cropping Land Policy is now open for consultation and Southern Downs Regional Mayor Ron Bellingham said the community should take a good, hard look.
“We applaud the intent of this new policy to protect our best agricultural land from heavy industry, like mining,” Cr Bellingham said.
“However, when you look at the fine print, it has major implications for what producers themselves can do with their land and for the council’s planning schemes,” he said.
“It effectively removes local decision-making for anything other than basic farming activities.
“We’re asking the community to take an interest in this because we think it will effectively ban a whole range of activities, which are quite common in this area today.”
The proposed policy applies to farming land only, not towns and urban areas, and restricts new buildings and developments, except in exempt categories.
“It appears to allow some things that are appropriate on strategic cropping land, such as animal keeping, intensive horticulture and cropping, but our concern is that it bans everything else,” Cr Bellingham said.
For example, you could build a winery, which is exempt, but if you wanted to have a restaurant or craft outlet associated with that winery, it would not be allowed.  You also can’t add a few cabins to an existing farm to supplement income, for instance.
“While animal keeping is allowed, this essentially only applies where no new buildings need to be built, so feedlots and free range pig or chook farms would be okay; poultry sheds and piggeries would not.
The policy could also have major impacts in the Granite Belt, with new sheds associated with a rural industry allowed, but only if they are less than 750 square metres in floor space,” the Mayor said.
“That’s a very small shed in the orchard or horticulture industry,” Cr Bellingham said.
“A number of producers have packing sheds over 4000 square metres in size.
“The council’s perspective is that quite a large range of these other activities could be appropriate and even desirable, subject to proper environmental and impact assessment, under the council’s current and future planning schemes,” he said.
“However, under the Draft State Planning Policy in its current form, it won’t matter, because the council won’t be allowed to approve their use.
“It appears that it essentially takes away a lot of local decision-making capability.
“I believe the Queensland Government needs to revisit the wording of this draft to allow for development of smallscale environmentally appropriate activities that complement cropping and are relatively widespread in this area today.”
The council is reviewing the implications of the draft policy on the proposed Southern Downs Planning Scheme.
The Mayor urged the community to read the draft policy and make a submission to the Queensland Government if they had any concerns.
Public submissions on the Draft State Planning Policy for Queensland’s Strategic Cropping Land close on September 30.