The Rural Fact Sheet written by the Gympie Regional Council raises some great points for the future and where the planning scheme is headed.
One statement caught my attention, “Encourage the rural economy to diversity and expand to new activities”
Excellent concept but often poorly implemented.
Diversity to me means not putting all of your eggs into one basket.
Much easier said than done.
Running cattle takes time but adding in a BnB takes even more time – time people don’t often have.
Diversity could also mean predicting the latest crop or fruit of choice in years to come – often risky, heavy initial outlay with years to see payoffs.
My point is, diversity is great but it’s risky and time consuming.
Rural properties only really work when local producers team up, sharing machinery, know-how and as a group achieving greater buying and selling power.
Manufacturing in Australia suffered when other countries scaled output up so high they could mass produce at record low costs.
All achieved through partnerships with like-minded companies.
We couldn’t produce anything in Australia for that cost and we lost out.
If the region goes great guns at diversity without moving forward together with a regional vision, without strong support and without expertise, we will inevitably become a region of multiple failed hobby farms.
Great planning scheme, if we have the necessary guidance and support.
– Michael Torrens
Gympie
