In 2021, Council sought feedback on the draft Rural Land Use Strategy.
The draft Rural Land Use Strategy sought to update the policy direction for rural land in the Macedon Ranges Shire to account for the changing nature of rural land use, and to account for a range of Council and State Government strategies and changes to regulation made since the previous 2002 Macedon Ranges Rural Land Use Strategy.
The aim of the Strategy was to:
- develop a vision for land currently in the Farming Zone and Rural Conservation Zone
- identify important values and features of rural land to be protected and enhanced
- respond to changes in land use that have occurred over the last 20 years
- identify mechanisms to foster best practice land management
- make recommendations for changes to the Planning Scheme that implement the strategy’s recommendations.
At a Scheduled Council Meeting on Wednesday 14 December 2022, Council voted unanimously in support of a recommendation to not progress the draft Rural Land Use Strategy, following a period of community engagement that saw 177 submissions lodged in response.
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