Regional plans are a key part of the planning framework. Their purpose is to set a long-term strategic direction for how the regions will grow and respond to change over time. Importantly for agriculture, regional plans are particularly useful for addressing existing or emerging regional issues, including managing competition between land uses.
After 15 months consultation with 12 councils and over 3300 submissions, the South East Queensland Regional Plan (Shaping SEQ) has been released. While it was always going to be difficult to keep all stakeholders satisfied, it is a mixed bag for agriculture.
Encouragingly, the Plan made limited changes to the urban footprint outside of its existing boundaries. The Rocky Point cane lands between Brisbane and the Gold Coast were retained, despite the push by developers and some landholders to expand the urban footprint.
However, we are still losing prime agricultural land. An area of Class A and B agricultural land at Lake Clarendon in the Lockyer Valley will be taken out of production in favour for Rural Living.
The Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) strongly believes that population growth should not and does not have to come at the expense of SEQ’s rural industries. In its Shaping SEQ submission, QFF clearly outlined the need for a policy framework that protects and encourages agricultural development within the region’s prime agriculture classified land.
Agricultural production in SEQ is dominated by commodities that either supply fresh to urban markets or rely on processing and packaging for local and export markets. These industries deliver a holistic community and economic value.
Urban based planners must better recognise the importance of agriculture and understand that poor planning decisions today mean we will not be able to capitalise on the emerging middle class in neighbouring Asian countries or realise biofutures agendas – something that will impact the prosperity of the whole state and the nation.