‘City farmers’ buyout fear

GREATER Dandenong mayor Peter Brown will next week call for a planning overlay in Keysborough South to make “Collins Street farmers” think twice before investing in an environmentally significant subdivision.
Cr Brown this week told the Star that the subdivision of a 180acre block of land in Keysborough South was on next Monday’s agenda for this year’s first ordinary meeting of council.
The land falls in a green wedge zone, but the properties will be permitted under legislation that allows for farmland in the protected areas, Cr Brown said.
He said the current owner had immaculately maintained the land and had planned to subdivide it into 15acre blocks.
Cr Brown said he would support the subdivision application, but feared once subdivided it would attract city investors who could not maintain the farmsized properties.
“That is always the problem,” he said. “People see it purely as an investment and don’t manage the property the way they should.”
He said the submission would be a catalyst to push for a planning overlay for Keysborough South, which he described as a standard set of guidelines property owners would have to abide by to keep the properties well maintained.
“There have been a number of residents asking for a planning overlay in the Keysborough South area to limit, control, and stipulate environmentally sensitive management issues, which haven’t been spelt out yet.
“This is a very significant land holding and the man who owns it has been absolutely fastidious in the management and care of the property so far.”