May 18, 2010
New South Wales promises agri land preservation
The New South Wales government has proposed to set aside agribusiness parks and farming clusters in the Sydney basin to preserve agricultural land.
At a conference on food security hosted by the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils, Primary Industries Minister Steve Whan flagged new planning tools that would put a greater focus on the protection of agriculture as part of a revised Sydney Metropolitan Strategy due later this year.
The recommendations were devised by a working group which includes staff from the Department of Planning as well as from Wollondilly, Penrith and Hawkesbury councils.
Whan acknowledged it was a complex issue to balance agriculture with population growth.
