Intensive agriculture is a form of agricultural production characterised by high-density land use aimed at maximising output, which has the potential to lead to significant off-site impacts (i.e. dust, noise, transport movement etc). This type of agriculture relies heavily on proximity to resources and faces substantial challenges when residential dwellings are located nearby.

A new dedicated policy (Clause 53.AA, Animal Production) is proposed to be added to all Victorian planning schemes under current State led reforms.

A number of key issues have been identified, including:

• Intensive agricultural operation are dispersed throughout the municipality and encroachment of conflicting uses can limit the ability of existing enterprises to continue to operate.
• Appropriate locations within Greater Bendigo that are well suited to intensive agriculture are increasingly constrained due to factors such as the special water supply catchment area, topographical issues, lack of irrigated water supply, and increased residential populations in rural areas.
• Biosecurity concerns require some intensive animal production, particularly poultry and pigs, to have substantial separation distance needs between producers.
• Poultry farms have significant risk of transmission and infection of viral diseases between stock and native birds which may need to be considered in relation to proximity to key environmental reserves.

A number of opportunities have been identified, including:

• Review and update the extent of intensive animal industry cluster areas on the Rural Strategic Framework Plan in Clause 02.04.
• Identify areas where intensive horticulture is viable given ready access to a consistent water supply for irrigation.
• Reinforcing the role of intensive animal industry clusters in local policy further to Clause 14.01-2L-01 to give priority to industry in place of other land uses as local policy.
• Growing markets suggest opportunities to expand pig and poultry farms in appropriate locations.
• Revisit the role of clusters and consider the appropriate separation distance between industries to reduce biosecurity risk but enable the operation of co-located intensive industry.

A number of potential strategies have been identified, including:

• Implement revised intensive animal industry location areas into Clause 02.04 (i.e. Rural Strategic Framework Plan) to better reflect the diverse rural opportunities of Greater Bendigo, ensuring varied and preferred land use outcomes based on land capability.
• Identify and promote land suitable for intensive agriculture to enhance economic development and agricultural productivity in the region and avoid land use conflict.
• Create a publicly available map layer that identifies all intensive industries across Greater Bendigo and specify buffers around them. While there are existing mechanisms to manage buffers, they are not presented visually for future applicants to view.
• Support the implementation of the Buffer Area Overlay (BAO) to manage the interface between intensive agriculture and surrounding uses when justified and proposed as a privately sponsored planning scheme amendment.
• Consider environmental impacts when determining whether new or expanded intensive agricultural production facilities should be supported.