Ag sector needs a say in urban planning

WITH an annual contribution to the state economy of more than $12 billion, agriculture deserves due recognition when it comes to urban planning.

That’s the call from NSW Farmers, which this week said the encroachment of urban development on agricultural land is having an impact on the sector that employs more than 75,000 people and supports almost 30,000 food and beverage manufacturing jobs in regional NSW.

The rise of land use conflict and nuisance complaints against agriculture has prompted the peak body’s call for a “whole of government understanding of recognising and preserving important agricultural land”, which it says will be a critical way of overcoming uncertainty for farmers, especially those in peri-urban areas.

According to NSW Farmers, those potential land-use conflicts can be constructively resolved when all areas of government “join in an obligation to protect land that is the future of farming in NSW, and explicitly recognise the social, economic and environmental value of farming to the NSW community and wider Australian economy”.