The Land Management Committee provides policy support to the VFF on a range of resource management issues. Native vegetation, strategic and statutory planning, pest and weeds, public land management and crown licenses and leases are the Committee's key focus areas.

The Land Management Committee advises the Policy Council on:

• Natural resource issues such as native vegetation clearing, biodiversity and protection of endangered species
• Land degradation issues such as erosion control, salinity and nutrient run-off to waterways
• Planning issues including protection of prime agricultural land
• Vermin and noxious weeds
• Overseeing and making recommendations on the VFF's involvement in Landcare
• Other matters as referred by Policy Council or the Executive Board

Land Management Chair and Committee Members



Chairperson

Gerald Leach, livestock and cropping farmer from North West Victoria, chairs the VFF Land Management Committee. Gerald has been a member of the Committee for 16 years and Chairman for the past four years. Gerald also chairs the National Farmers' Federation Sustainability Committee and Emissions Trading Taskforce and has a long involvement with natural resource and environmental management.



Additional Members

Member: Alex Arbuthnot

Alex is a dairy farmer from Gippsland, a past president of the VFF, and is heavily involved with Landcare and the Gippsland Agribusiness Forum.

Member: Judy Clements

Judy is a livestock farmer north of Melbourne and is involved in the issues of the peri urban interface and the problems of farming in the Greenwedge areas.

Member: Ian Lobban

Ian is a beef producer from North East Victoria and is involved in riparian grazing licenses, wild dogs and the management of crown land.

Member: Kain Richardson

Member: David Clarke



Victorian Farmers Federation Land Use Planning Workshops

The VFF is encouraging farmers to have a say in the development of its state-wide planning policy.

We are keen to learn about the land use planning issues faced by farmers. We want to look at solutions to issues such as:

• The right to farm - restrictions on land use and conflicts over land use
• Succession and business development issues such as lot size minimums for subdivisions and dwellings.
• Issues with overlays, zoning regulations and impacts of residential encroachment.

Workshops will be held in Warragul, Lilydale and Shepparton during March 2012. For dates and venues, please download the flyer below.

VFF Land Use Planning Workshops 2012 (383kb)

You can contact the VFF on 1300 882 833 for further information.



Submission to the Victorian Planning System Ministerial Advisory Committee

The Victorian Farmers Federation has provided a submission to the Victorian Planning System Ministerial Advisory Committee. The submission outlines the current issues with the Victorian Planning System and calls for some key changes to make life easier for farmers. The suggested changes include:

• Strengthen and protect the right to farm across all rural zones
• Greater support for agriculture in the Green Wedge Zones
• Removal of Rural Conservation Zones on productive agricultural land
• Removal of overlays that erode property rights and duplicate other regulation
• Take the pressure off the Farming Zone by encouraging development away from areas of intact agricultural land

Our submission can be downloaded from the link below.

VFF Submission Victorian Planning System Ministerial Advisory Committee (594kb)

Submission on the Department of Sustainability and Environment’s draft Dingo Action Statement

The Victorian Farmers Federation’s (VFF) Land Management Committee has submitted on the Department of Sustainability and Environment’s draft Dingo Action Statement. The submission outlines a series of issues with the Statement and calls for a wholesale review. The Statement:

• completely fails to demonstrate how the dual purposes of Dingo conservation and wild dog pest control can be achieved.
• underestimates the impact of Dingoes and wild dogs on agriculture.
• makes unrealistic and unsubstantiated assumptions about the presence of pure bred Dingoes in Victoria.

Our submission can be downloaded from the link below.

VFF Submission on Draft Dingo Action Statement (247kb)

Land Management Issues

The VFF Land Management Committee lobbies on behalf of members on a variety of issues, with the Committee most recently focused on those listed below.

• Rural Land Use/Planning/Rural Zoning to ensure farmers' property rights are retained and that high value agriculture land is preserved.
• Sustainable Land Management including flexible Native Vegetation Management with a focus on the use of Market-based instruments rather than regulation.
• Control of pest and weeds both on private and public land.
• Biodiversity awareness in farming systems.