Rural planning

Background

Agriculture is a major employer and among the largest contributors to Tasmania’s economy. In 2017–18 it was worth $1.60 billion. In 2019, the Government adopted a plan to grow the sector to $10 billion by 2050.The current main exports are red meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables, grains and wine.

Significant investment has been made to support Tasmania’s agricultural enterprises and provide for future growth. The planning system plays a very important role in ensuring agricultural land is protected for agricultural enterprises, including providing protections from constraints resulting from conflict with neighbouring land use.

How is this managed within the planning system?

Planning in rural areas is similar to the approach in urban areas in directing the location and forms of different developments, but the types of issues and land uses are different. These include land uses like agriculture, forestry and mining, as well as some of the infrastructure needs of the broader community, such as road, electricity transmission and energy generation infrastructure. The scenic, natural and cultural qualities of rural landscapes are also important.

The objectives of the Resource Management and Planning System (RMPS) promote the sustainable development of our natural and physical resources, including our rural land. This objective flows through to all requirements in the planning system.

A key focus of rural planning is ensuring the best agricultural land remains available for the production of food, fibre and other products. Tasmania places a very high value on agricultural land. The State Policy on the Protection of Agricultural Land 2009 provides detailed requirements for agricultural land management through the planning system, including the Tasmanian Planning Policies (TPPs), regional land use strategies and the Tasmanian Planning Scheme (TPS).

The State Policy applies to all agricultural land in Tasmania and places higher priorities on prime agricultural land and land within designated irrigation districts. It enables the weighing up of the significance of land in determining whether it is appropriate for any non-agricultural uses. Agricultural land can be broadly defined as land that is in agricultural use, or has the potential for agricultural use, that has not been zoned or developed for another use or would not be unduly restricted for agricultural use by its size, shape and proximity to adjoining non-agricultural uses.

All agriculture depends on access to suitable soil. While the fertility of soils can be renewed, the loss of access to soils through conversion to other land uses is often irreversible. Reducing the breakup (fragmentation) of agricultural land and its conversion to non-agricultural use is important for the economic viability of the farming sector. This is one of the main objectives of the State Policy.

The draft TPPs aim to promote the diverse and highly productive agricultural sector in Tasmania by protecting the land and resources on which it depends. The draftTPPs include detailed planning policies to be delivered through the regional land use strategies and the TPS.

All three regional land use strategies contain strategies for the protection of agricultural land and other uses that require a rural location to operate. They also consider the variety of other uses that may be required to support agricultural industries and rural communities. The State Policy, the TPPs and regional land use strategies guide the application of rural zones through each council’s Local Provisions Schedule in the TPS.

In the TPS, agricultural use is formally defined as 'use of the land for propagating, cultivating or harvesting plants or for keeping and breeding of animals, excluding domestic animals and pets. It includes the handling, packing or storing of plant and animal produce for dispatch to processors. It includes controlled environment agriculture and plantation forestry.'

In simpler language this means:

• using land to propagate, cultivate or harvest plants
• keeping and breeding farm animals
• handling, packing or storing produce to send to processors
• growing crops in a greenhouse (controlled environment agriculture)
• plantation forestry.

The Agriculture Zone and the Rural Zone are the two main rural zones used in the TPS. The Agriculture Zone provides for the identification of the State’s main agricultural land, sometimes referred to as Tasmania’s ‘agricultural estate’. The Rural Zone covers much of the remaining rural land, except for land zoned for environmental management, where there are limited opportunities for agricultural use, or areas dominated by other rural-based industries like mining, processing facilities and forestry.

Agriculture and rural zoned land makes up a significant portion of Tasmania along with land identified for environmental management, such as national parks and reserves.

Rural zones also allow agricultural businesses to diversify and value add, by enabling a variety of ancillary and related uses. Farm stay and paddock-to-plate experiences are increasingly popular and are a valuable way for rural producers to diversify their income. The planning system supports these, subject to the usual planning issues like managing impacts on neighbours from noise and traffic, and environmental impacts.

Housing in rural areas

Housing in rural areas of the state is generally limited to that necessary to support agricultural uses, such as farmhouses and on-farm workers’ accommodation, or other industries requiring a rural location to operate. This ensures land remains available for agricultural uses and minimises potential conflicts with competing uses.

Rural living (or rural residential) is a popular choice for people who enjoy the variety of activities that a bigger block can provide, like keeping horses or a home orchard. Rural living land is usually high in amenity but has lower access to facilities and services. Car ownership is often essential due to a lack of public transport.

Councils decide, with the approval of the independent Tasmanian Planning Commission (the Commission), where rural living land is best situated within their local areas, based on policies in the TPPs and the regional land use strategies. Servicing rural living areas can increase costs. For example, there may be more roads to be maintained, or a waste collection service may need to be extended. Social services are also more challenging to deliver to a small, dispersed population. Infrastructure providers also have greater costs for the installation and maintenance of pipes and lines.

Because of these broader issues of sustainability and affordability, the Government is following a policy of giving preference to growth in existing urban areas.

Planning initiatives

State Policy on Protection of Agricultural Land

The current State Policy on the Protection of Agricultural Land was adopted in 2009, an update of an earlier policy from 2000. Its two main goals are to enable the sustainable development of agriculture by minimising:

• conflict with or interference from other land uses
• non-agricultural use or development on agricultural land that precludes the return of that land to agricultural use.

All other plans and policies must be in accordance with the State Policy.

TPPs

Agriculture is included in the draft Sustainable Economic Development TPP. Its main goal is to promote a diverse and highly productive agricultural sector by protecting agricultural land and the resources on which agriculture depends, while supporting the long-term viability and growth of the agricultural sector.

The review of the existing regional land use strategies will take the intent of the TPPs and apply it to the regions.

Review of regional land use strategies

The three regional land use strategies already provide detailed requirements for rural planning. They implement the State Policy and guide its application for the rural zones in the TPS.

Comprehensive reviews of the regional land use strategies are occurring to deliver much needed updates to improve their application. Once made, the reviews will ensure compliance with the TPPs.

Tasmanian Planning Scheme

The TPS introduced new zones (the Agriculture Zone and Rural Zone) for the management of rural and agricultural areas. These zones were based on those in interim planning schemes with revisions to better reflect Tasmania’s characteristics.

The Agricultural Land Mapping Project was a significant project completed in 2017 to support the introduction of the TPS and guide the application of the Agriculture Zone and Rural Zone in council Local Provisions Schedules.

Residential use in the Agriculture Zone is no longer limited to a single house on an agricultural lot. This enables farmers to seek approval for on-farm workers’ accommodation where required to service the farm.

The State Planning Provisions (SPPs) in the TPS are currently being reviewed to deliver improvements across a number of areas, including rural zones. This may also include producing further guidance documents about rural zones.

Who does what?

Councils are the main decision makers on development applications for rural and agriculture-zoned land. Councils are also responsible for applying the rural zones to the land in their municipality through their Local Provisions Schedule in the TPS. The Commission approves each council’s Local Provision Schedule in accordance with the requirements in the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993, including consistency with the state policies, future TPPs and regional land use strategies.

The Minister for Planning sets the overall direction for the planning system on rural land through the approval and amendment of the:

• TPPs
• regional land use strategies, in partnership with local government and state agencies
• the planning rules in the SPPs of the TPS.

These processes involve public consultation and independent review by the Commission.

Both Houses of Parliament are responsible for the making and amending of state policies. This is based on community and industry input, expert advice from relevant state departments and councils and independent review by the Commission.

State Government departments, such as the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment Tasmania (NRE) and the Department of State Growth, provide expert advice on agriculture and agricultural land. NRE is responsible for a wide range of issues that affect rural areas.

Business Tasmania (Department of State Growth) has developed a Tasmanian Agribusiness Toolkit which assists agritourism business operators to navigate the various regulatory processes in Tasmania. They have also produced an Agritourism Guide for Regulators in Tasmania.

The Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association (TFGA) is an important advocacy organisation dedicated to the interests of farmers in Tasmania. The TFGA ensures the interests of farmers are represented when decisions are made that impact on agriculture in Tasmania.

Natural Resource Management (NRM) groups also have a wide range of programs focused on rural sustainability.

More information

Agriculture | Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (nre.tas.gov.au)

Tasmanian Agritourism Business | Department of State Growth, Business Tasmania (business.tas.gov.au)

Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association (tfga.com.au)

Regional NRM bodies offer a range of support programs for rural enterprises.

Cradle Coast NRM
NRM North​
NRM South​