We are developing a strategy for managing and developing rural land. Council has commissioned RMCG, a specialist in environment, agriculture and communities to develop the Rural Land Use Strategy. This work will identify potential areas for rural activities, conservation and living as well as provide guidelines for managing and developing these lands.

As part of the background work and strategy development, Council would like to know what the community values most about rural land in the shire, and your views about the most important things to consider when developing the strategy.

We are now gathering community input that will help guide the strategy. We are actively seeking feedback from businesses and the community during two key phases:

• An online survey and targeted stakeholder discussions, informing the Draft Background Paper which will inform the Strategy (September-October 2025)
• Responding to the Draft Rural Land Use Strategy when it is on public exhibition (early to mid 2026)

This work will support agriculture and other rural industries, including rural tourism, identify areas for rural living, and protect important environmental, cultural and landscape values. This might include recommending changes to the Mount Alexander Planning Scheme to improve providing better decision-making processes for rural permit applications.

We also want to make sure we meet current and future farming needs. There is concern that productive agricultural land is being lost to other uses like rural living and low density residential development. We also want to reduce conflicts with other land uses due to agricultural activities such as noise, dust and odours.

Development of the Rural Land Use Strategy will help us to protect these lands by encouraging sensitive development, recognising the values of hilltops, ridgelines and biodiversity corridors, and responsive planning to climate change and its impacts on productivity.

The strategy will apply to all rural zoned land (Farming Zone, Rural Living Zone and the Rural Conservation Zone) within the Mount Alexander Shire area. These areas support agriculture, horticulture, tourism, conservation and living areas.

To find out if your property is in a rural zoned area, visit the VicPlan website, type in your address and read the planning property report.

Council approved a budget in Financial Year 2024/2025 to commence the work. It is funded from co-contributions:

• Mount Alexander Shire Council $56,000
• Department of Transport and Planning’s Regional Planning Hub $100,000