Farm rate blast

SOME of Casey’s farmers are being forced off their land with council rate bills skyrocketing to $85,000 per year.
Farmers and vegetable growers are being forced to pay more than 50 times the average ratepayer since their land was zoned for residential development when included in the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB).
The latest rates notice for Peter White, who owns a farm on the border of Berwick and Cranbourne North, was for $85,000 – which had jumped from $5000 in 2005.
He said he had seen huge increases over the past eight years with his rates jumping to $31,000 in 2009 and then $41,000 in 2011.
“Our property is not viable anymore,” he said.
“We can’t make that out of a farm and have had to go into capital to pay that.
“How long can someone afford to be paying those rates?”
At a council meeting last month, councillor Geoff Ablett raised a motion, which was supported unanimously, to see what the council could do to help farmers who wanted to stay on their farms.
The council will now explore ways to assist farmers who are being forced off their land due to the urban sprawl.
“We need to come up with a better way to assist farmers,” he said.
“We’ve been expressing for some time the need to keep agricultural land, but how can we when we are pushing them away with huge rate rises?
“We need to keep the farms in Casey for our food, beef and horse industry.
“We need to find a better way to look after our people.”
Mr White, whose farm Tulliallan is about 200 acres, said the rezoning forced landowners off their farms, and was unfair.
“We bought this place nearly 20 years ago, have lived in Casey for more than 43 years and our children all grew up and went to school here,” he said.
“We have had two children married on this property and the third soon to be married here.
“When we bought this, it was our vision that we would stay here for the rest our lives.
“But we’ve got no chance of staying here. They are going to rate us out.”
Mr White said they never wanted to be included in the UGB and that request was met when the boundary was first put in place.
However, about six years ago, the State Government included their property.
“I realise progress and growth is going to take over, but why should landowners who want to stay on their land be forced out if they don’t want to?”
Mr White said he understood that his land was worth more now so his rates should be higher, but not 70 times more than the average rate payer.
“It should be capped at about five times the average rate payer,” he said.
“How can the council possibly justify what they are charging us now?”
Mr White said he was glad councillors were on their side and that the council would now look at the problem.
A consultation will take place with the council and residents within the UGB in the near future.