We the undersigned, residents, and ratepayers of Macedon Ranges Shire and external stake holders of the local, national and global agriculture, farming and conservation sectors both do hereby formally request that the Macedon Ranges Shire Council and staff fully withdraw the Rural Land Use Strategy from all consideration.

Plans to rezone "farming" land to "rural conservation" as shown in FIGURE 9: AREAS PROPOSED FOR REZONING of the Rural Land Use Strategy is unjust and provides an unnecessary hindrance to the continuation of small family farms, agriculture businesses, sustainable farming and active science based land conservation within the proposed rezoning areas.

Over many years we have worked hard preserving native vegetation including the fencing of water catchment areas and bush at our own expense as well as planting acres of plantation trees to improve biodiversity whilst farming in a sustainable and ethical way.

Inspite of our efforts the Macedon Ranges Shire Council has arbitrarily decided to to rezone our farms as rural conservation zone making farming almost impossible to realistically continue which will have a grave impact on our families as we rely on farming to pay our everyday bills and protect our environment.