Every so often a story lands on your desk that says something uncomfortable about the way we govern rural communities. This week it came from a local primary producer who, after months of delays, shifting expectations and an approval process that made no practical sense, decided to sell rather than continue the fight.
This is not a one-off. It is what happens when a council with no agricultural expertise is asked to regulate agricultural businesses.
What makes this even harder to accept is that the solution was both simple and available. Our region has a respected agricultural consultant, someone council could draw on whenever a farm development needs specialist assessment. Farmers have suggested this repeatedly. Council has chosen not to use that resource.
And so the pattern repeats.
A producer who tried to upgrade infrastructure to improve animal welfare, environmental outcomes and business viability became trapped in a process designed for suburban building projects. Without agricultural literacy, council defaulted to caution. Not informed caution, but uncertainty disguised as regulation.
He could take the matter to the Land and Environment Court.
He would probably win.
But why should he have to?
No primary producer should be forced into legal action because council lacks the capacity to understand the industry it is regulating.
The consequences reach further than one property. When agricultural investment becomes too risky or too slow, people stop investing. When conditions become unreasonable, people walk away. Over time, the region loses its producers, its knowledge base and its economic diversity.
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