Rural Living Code Amendments

The State Planning Commission has informed the LGA that they have been involved in the assessment of proposals to rezone land for the purposes of rural living development.

Rural (or ‘country’) living involves housing development in rural areas on the fringes of townships and peri-urban areas of metropolitan Adelaide.

This can include some level of rural activity such as horse keeping, hobby farming or horticulture. Allotment sizes in rural living areas range from 1,200 square metres up to 20 hectares.

The rezoning of land for rural living purposes is a complex planning issue.

The Commission advises that while rural living is a legitimate housing choice (and councils often support rural living rezonings to increase population and economic activity in regional communities), it can have environmental, social and economic costs that are significantly higher than standard residential development.

These can result in the inefficient delivery of services, fragmentation (or removal) of viable primary production land, and lead to conflict with more intense surrounding farming operations. It can also restrict the ability of a city or township to expand.

The Commission advises that it holds concerns regarding the costs that can arise from rural living development. It has resolved not to support any Code Amendment seeking to facilitate rural living development at this time.

The Commission has requested that consideration be given to the identification of appropriate locations for rural living as part of the Regional Planning process. This is to ensure that due consideration is given to future growth and servicing of our regional centres.

Following completion of this process, the LGA is advised that the Minister for Planning has indicated that he would only be willing to consider rural living proposals where they have been identified in a Regional Plan and where the Code Amendment is to be led by the relevant council.