By signing this petition you:

Support your councils decision to opt out of the new Agritourism changes, which ignore the lethal combination of bushfires, collapsing roads and alcohol.

Support the current planning processes which allow community members to have a say about development that directly or indirect impacts them.

Support current prohibited developments like function venues, multiple campers and caravans and excessive visitors remaining prohibited on rural zoned land.

Acknowledge the NSW Department of Planning should not apply a blanket development rule to all of NSW but instead should, once more, allow individual councils to decide what happens in their region.

 

BACKGROUND:

Function venues are currently prohibited on rural zoned land in NSW.

The new Agritourism legislation will allow function venues to ‘pop up’ on ANY primary production rural land in NSW from Dec 1st.

There could be multiple function venues on rural properties right next door to each other.

Up to 52 events per year are allowed on each site, Friday and Saturday nights, operating until 12am.

No one will be able to object to these function venues.

The changes would also allow for other currently prohibited activities to occur on rural zoned land including:

• Multiple campers and caravans - 20 people at a time for up to 21 days each visit (on properties >15ha)
• Construction of large permanent structures with no DA - Up to 200sqm
• Up to 100 visitors at any one time to 'farm experiences' (potentially hundreds per day)

This is not Agritourism, this is unregulated camping and wedding function venues under the guise of Agritourism.

Multiple local councils along the coast want to make changes to the new Agritourism legislation to suit their specific regions and circumstances and were assured they could do so. The NSW State Government Department of Planning (DPE) has now stopped them.

Many local councils including, Shoalhaven, Ballina, Byron and Tweed want to opt out for very sound reasons including:

• Biosecurity
• Fragmentation of agricultural land
• Serious safety concerns around bushfires, collapsing roads and alcohol
• Loss of rural landscape and amenity for locals and visitors
• Huge costs and time associated with overseeing compliance
• Negative impacts on native flora and fauna was well as livestock

The Department of Planning needs to recognise these serious issues and realise that a one size fits all approach to Agritourism in a diverse state such as NSW is delusional and dangerous.

Find out more https://paddocksoverprofits.org