rich soils of Melbourne’s fringe under siege from development
acedon Ranges residents call it “The Block syndrome”. In 2022, the top-rating Channel 9 renovation series parcelled a 32-hectare (79-acre) historic farm at Gisborne, 55km from central Melbourne, into lots for a “tree change” special. While more than 1.7 million viewers tuned in, to many living in Melbourne’s green wedge it symbolised a crisis of overdevelopment.
“People are sold an illusion,” says fifth-generation farmer Liz Burns, who runs livestock and grows berries, herbs and bush foods in the Hepburn shire council, which neighbours the Macedon Ranges shire, about 100km north-west of Melbourne.
The region holds “some of the best, cleanest, deep red soils with pristine water”, Burns says, but years of development have drained the community “of its energy and resources”.
“Neither the state nor local governments understand just how vital it is to protect what’s left of such quality land,” she says.
“Carving up our farms into lifestyle blocks and tourism simply doesn’t stack up economically.”
Since more and more houses are being bullsdozed and the land turned to units or tiny blocks of land why not go whole hog?
Build 20story blocks of flats or units and make them a good size—200m long say. THAT will get rid of urban sprawl!
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Env—Melbourne’s fringe farmlands at risk (Read 206 times)
