A couple of weeks ago I received an email suggesting that trees were being cleared on a few properties in the old North of Beaudesert with permits or approvals from Logan Council and the sender was concerned that there was going to be a new influx of Protected Horticulture operations due to some kind of moratorium on tree clearing.
Being pre occupied with work and other personal issues I checked out a couple of addresses and found that one of them was definitely cleared and now has been covered with the familiar plastic igloo type structures that have caused much concern for people who want private residential use of their land adjacent to what is essentially factory farming.
I was however, amazed to see this weeks local paper and the sensationalised stories about one property in Greenbank and whilst I have sympathy for the owner of the neighbouring property if there is a change of use to Intensive Horticulture I have to wonder why just one property has been targeted and why the hysterical views about small cropping in any form, of another person, have been added as a separate story.
Actually I don't have to wonder, it is quite obvious in my opinion that the alliances are gathering their forces together once again to try to get one persons idea that we should all only be allowed to garden up to 200 square meters on our land revisited by Logan Council and forced upon us.
I have had email discussions with someone who has been a well known advocate for regulation of Protected horticulture within rural residential or what they call rural living areas now, for well over 5 years and who despite having a comprehensive document lodged with the Beaudesert Council all that time ago which would have seen both Council and community well served by allowing everyone, including new buyers to know the rules and have a clear understanding of the requirements before attempting to buy land for intensive horticulture operations and allowing the community fair dispute resolution as well as a process of objection to any proposed new change of use, that person has been gagged and omitted from discussions because it has become politicised and that person will not come out against market gardens and does not believe in extinguishing the "as of right use" that existing operators have now.
In those email discussions I was also enlightened to the fact that the regulations can be applied at State Government level as they are in NSW which removes the ability of some opportunistic politically savvy aspirants to use such a polarising issue for their own purposes.
I was asked this interesting question, and it is so pertinent, " why would someone move into a rural area, into roads named Farm or Harvest even, and then try to stop others who are just using their right to follow a typically rural pursuit from running a small crops operation on their land?
