Farmers claim win on ‘priority agriculture’ stoush with Augusta-Margaret River Shire for future planning

Rural residents who voiced uproar at plans to remove the term “priority agriculture” from the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River’s draft revised planning scheme may have had a win.

It looked increasingly likely the next draft of Local Planning Scheme 2 going before shire councillors would retain the existing rural land use categories instead of ditching them for the new “rural” category.

The shire was swamped with about 800 submissions on the draft scheme during the last round of advertising — though not all were based on the zoning changes — after farmers and rural advocates urged landowners to scrutinise the documents closely.

Witchcliffe Community Association president Todd Giles led the call, with he and other landowners including farmer Erin Hutton fearing the change would weaken farmers’ rights for full utilisation of their land.

Earlier this year, farmers argued the existing priority agriculture zoning trumped conservation rulings, whereas the proposed rural zone was subservient to conservation amendments, particularly affecting waterways and riparian zones.

Since those concerns were voiced at an annual electors meeting in January, the shire had since committed to developing a specific agricultural policy in conjunction with farmers.

Responding to questions from the Times, shire chief executive Andrea Selvey said only some of the 800 submissions pertained to the agricultural concerns.

“We will present our report and recommendations on the LPS2 to council later this year and are committed to ensuring the new scheme aligns with our community’s future needs which includes protecting agricultural land and supporting our local farmers,” she said.

As a former chief in the Wheatbelt, Ms Selvey had experience working with farmers which was expected to feed into the upcoming policy development.

Mr Giles said retaining the priority agricultural zoning would be a win for producers who were pleased to see the local government supporting the future and importance of farming as a key local industry.

The WCA president said people power made sure farmers’ concerns were heard.

Mr Giles said the shire had plenty of challenges of its own to examine before increasing conservation requirements on producers, including overgrown road verges, rampant weeds, feral animals and pests.

He also said a register for “significant trees” would be a good idea.

Ms Hutton told the Times she would await details of the final proposed scheme before making comment.