FARM LAND PRICE MAINTENANCE

I made an interesting discovery today....that it appears that accoding to a submission to the State Government the following organisations listed below support the keeping of farmland prices as low as possible by [read red statement below]  .....

The price of land in Yarra Ranges is determined by its rural residential value (up to areas of

about 30 ha.). This makes it difficult for existing enterprises to expand their business in a

nearby location, particularly for the crop sectors at the lower end of the scale for net returns

per ha. This includes vegetables, orchard fruit and viticulture. A number of businesses have

expanded by purchasing properties outside the Shire, particularly in northern Victoria. While

this provides some diversification for managing climate risk, it does increase costs of

production, either running two sets of post-harvest facilities or returning crops to the home

property for post-harvest handling.

A solution to this problem could be to expand existing tenement controls to broader areas of the Green Wedge zones, so land would not have rural residential value, but this would meet with widespread opposition from the majority of existing landholders.

This submission is supported by the following organisations:

Australian Rubus Growers Association

Centre for Agriculture and Business - Yarra Valley Inc.

Flowers Victoria

Nursery and Garden Industry Victoria

Victorian Cherry Association Inc.

Victorian Strawberry Growers Association

Yarra ValleyWine Growers Association

YARRA RANGES SUBMISSION TO THE OUTER SUBURBAN/INTERFACE SERVICES AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE OF PARLIAMENT

INQUIRY INTO SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT OF AGRIBUSINESS

IN OUTER SUBURBAN MELBOURNE

January 2009