<
https://theconversation.com/half-of-western-sydney-foodbowl-land-may-have-been-lost-to-development-in-just-10-years-190148>
"More and more farming land is being lost to other land uses such as housing on
the outskirts of our cities. But how much land is being lost? And why does it
matter?
Our newly published research used the Western Sydney region as a case study of
land lost since the 2011 census, and newly released Australian Bureau of
Statistic (ABS) data allowed us to update our findings. While changes in ABS
land-use definitions make precise comparisons difficult, Western Sydney may
have lost as much as 60% of its agricultural land over the past ten years.
The significance of these losses is that Western Sydney has long been seen as
the foodbowl of Greater Sydney. It produces more than three-quarters of the
total value of agricultural produce in the metropolitan region. The city relies
heavily on Western Sydney for livestock, vegetables, eggs, grapes and nuts.
We also interviewed people from different tiers of government working in
Western Sydney. Our study highlights growing tensions between the New South
Wales government and its attempts to manage population growth and housing
pressures, and local councils and their efforts to protect food production on
the city outskirts. The loss of productive land around our major cities is an
increasingly urgent issue for our food security."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
