Change of direction on Rural Land Use Strategy

Published on 15 December 2022

A draft strategy on rural land use and development within the Macedon Ranges Shire will not be progressed.

At a Scheduled Council Meeting last night, Council voted unanimously in support of a recommendation to not progress the draft Rural Land Use Strategy, following a period of community engagement that saw 177 submissions lodged in response.

Council’s recommendations noted that a significant amount of background work, research and community feedback had been captured as part of developing the draft strategy, which sought to update the shire’s inaugural 2002 Rural Land Strategy.

Council also noted that a State Government review – the Planning for Melbourne’s Green Wedge and Strategic Agricultural Land project – and certain bushfire considerations both remained unresolved, potentially overlapping some parts of Council’s strategy.

Mayor Annette Death said it was pleasing to see the high level of engagement from the community on the strategy, with Council being thorough and considered in its review.

“I’d like to thank everyone involved for their input and note that this will form invaluable feedback and research for any future work,” she said.

“We acknowledge that the strategy will no longer proceed, particularly while there is still work happening beyond our scope that could ultimately impact it going forward.”

Any future work on rural land use and development would be progressed as a new project, and would be subject to Council approval as part of any future Council Plan and/or budget process.