Tasmanian Government Media Release - 29 May 2008
Premier David Bartlett today announced that a revised State Policy on the Protection of Agricultural Land (PAL) had been sent to the Resource Planning and Development Commission (RPDC) for assessment as a new State Policy. In order to give immediate effect to the revised Policy the Government intends to introduce the Policy as an Interim State Policy. In line with a Government announcement made late last year, the Policy will limit the further expansion of plantations on Class 1, 2 and 3 agricultural land.
The revised Policy had been drafted following a comprehensive review. It clarifies the impacts of residential development and plantations on prime agricultural land. The review, which began in August 2006, received 90 submissions in response to the terms of reference.Many submissions raised concerns about limitations on building houses in rural areas and the expansion of plantations onto good agricultural land.
The revised Policy more clearly addresses these issues,eg, residential development on agricultural land should be assessed in terms of the quality of the land, the area of land and how the residential use of the land might interfere with nearby agricultural activity.The revised Policy will also introduce new controls on the expansion of tree plantations on prime agricultural land.Prime agricultural land is a rare resource. It currently makes up 4.3% of the State's farming land,some limits need to be placed on new tree plantations on prime farming land in order to retain it for food production and annual crops.
It is expected that the RPDC assessment of the revised PAL Policy could take up to a year to complete and will include a comprehensive public consultation process.
The Policy will provide for some transitional arrangements to allow a phasing out of new plantations on prime land. It will also allow farmers to continue to grow trees for shelter belts and wood lots. Small areas of plantation will also be able to be established as part of a larger property management plan.
Because of concerns over inconsistency in interpretation, the revised PAL Policy will be accompanied by supporting documentation. This documentation will include a comprehensive Implementation Guide and a set of Model Planning Scheme Standards which could be adopted by local councils if they so chose.
The draft Policy and supporting documentation can be found on the RPDC website at www.rpdc.tas.gov.au
