New rules to boost farm businesses start 1 December

New planning rules designed to make it easier for farmers to set up agritourism businesses will come into effect on 1 December.

Agritourism opportunities can include farm stays, cafes, cellar doors, retreats, roadside stalls, fruit picking or small wedding venues.

The changes to planning rules include:

• Simplifying planning terms to make it easier for farmers to know how they can use their land for new income streams.
• New planning pathways to allow activities to be either fast-tracked for approval or exempted from approval requirements.
• Landowners will be able to rebuild farm buildings destroyed by natural disasters without planning approval.

NSW Small Business Commissioner Chris Lamont said the Commission’s work on the Agritourism Pilot Program had laid the groundwork for the planning changes. “This boost to agritourism has been a number of years in development and it’s great to see the changes come to fruition,” Mr Lamont said.

Agritourism is a growing sector for both the Australian and NSW economies and is expected to be worth $18.6 billion nationally by 2030.

For more information visit www.planning.nsw.gov.au/agritourism