Rural Land Use

 CURRENT POSITION
1. The Shire Town Planning Department insists that any block from a rural subdivision must have evidence that it is agriculturally viable.

2. Soils and land forms change repeatedly on the Monaro, so the 400ha subdivision rule, on a productivity basis, makes no sense.

3. Agricultural land use on the Monaro is not highly productive. So again, the 400ha subdivision rule makes no sense. A full time productive farmer should be running 10,000 to 20,000 DSEs. (3,000 to 4,000 ha).

4. The real issue is our rural landscape, what we want to see as we drive along our Monaro roads. Whether the block size is 1ha or 10,000ha what we, as a community, want to see is what we enjoy and is pleasing to the eye. This is one of the major reasons we live where we live.

5. There are no alternative plans to the 400ha rule in the pipeline by any political party at present.

6. Tree Changers need blocks of 3 to 7 ha not 400ha as is the present Shire rule for such blocks.

7. The Shire's criteria for the acceptance of DAs for the building of houses on rural blocks can include rules for two way roads for bush fire control, water, sewerage, the size of the block, and road access.

8. A potentially suitable form of Community Title is available, for example the system used in Scotland.

9. More people living in a rural area will lead to better fire control because of more hands on deck.

10. ANU can map any area now through the use of satellite technology, so zoning can be completed at a lower cost by using this method.

11. Overall cost of access roads can be covered generally by a higher minimum rating on each block.

PROPOSED ACTION
1. We, the Shire residents, need to find a way of allowing the local community to choose the type of landscape we want for the Monaro.

2. Lobby Shire Councillors and Political parties to change the regulations pertaining to rural subdivisions to suit the local environment.