General News
9 November, 2023
Council concerned over growing timber production
CORANGAMITE Shire Council has expressed concern about the growth of the timber production industry and its potential impacts on the shire’s agriculture industry at last month’s council meeting. The concern comes as council was asked to move on...
CORANGAMITE Shire Council has expressed concern about the growth of the timber production industry and its potential impacts on the shire’s agriculture industry at last month’s council meeting.
The concern comes as council was asked to move on including the Grow Corangamite Timber Production Impacts Analysis Brief into the Grow Corangamite: Sustaining Our Agriculture Future strategy.
The strategy draws also information from the Grow Corangamite Scoping Study, and the Report on Consultation Findings – Unlocking value in the Great South Coast region.
Councillor Kate Makin said the agriculture sector was identified as the shire’s largest and most important industry, with one third of Corangamite Shire’s workforce employed in the sector.
“The agriculture production industry is the single largest sector of the Corangamite Shire economy, generating just over $800 million of economy output for the 2020-2021 season; that is 30 per cent for the total output,” she said.
“The strategy will assist council in future planning decisions, policy and appropriate rezoning for rural land, protecting important rural assets such as the dairy industry.
“An increase in the purchase of agricultural land for the purpose of timber production has occurred as we all well know.
“The impacts that the growth of timber production has on the significant dairy and agriculture industry in the shire is a major consideration that requires separate and further analysis. This work is required as a matter of priority to the council to provide us with an understanding of direct and indirect impacts of land use changes for other agriculture industries, especially dairy.”
Cr Jo Beard said the strategy was “quite a major piece of work” of council’s undertaking.
“I’ve been quite vocal of late around how important it is that we get a true analysis of what’s going on with the timber production, and how it has really come at a rapid rate back into the Corangamite Shire, particularly in the south,” she said.
“It doesn’t sit well with me because I come from a small community, where we rely on our ag service.
“As soon as we start changing those practices, particularly from dairy which is so much more intensive, to the likes of a plantation, the whole aesthetics of the community existing will just change.
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
Cr Geraldine Conheady said it was obvious the analysis was needed.
“In the report, the statistics are extremely impressive, and they clearly demonstrate the high value and importance of agriculture in Corangamite,” she said.
“In the production and processing sectors, these are generating 45 per cent of our total economic output and 38 per cent of our total jobs; that’s huge in the shire, and in addition they’re supporting our tourism and driving our service sector as well.
“There’s no doubt that our prosperity is mainly our ag primary sector, and our ag primary production sector in particular.”