This document discusses the impact of expanding Melbourne's Urban Growth Boundary on future food security. It argues that urban sprawl enabled by expanding the boundary results in the loss of agricultural land, threatening food security. Some impacts include reducing certainty for farmers, encouraging land speculation, and increased food prices. The document recommends enforcing permanent boundaries to protect farmland, maintaining local food supplies, and increasing urban density instead of further expanding the boundary.

1. The impact of continued expansion of
Melbourne’s Urban Growth Boundary
on future food security.
Shelley Bennett (133623)

2. Thesis statement:
Urban sprawl, enabled
by the expansion of the
urban growth boundary
(UGB) is resulting in a
loss of agricultural land,
impacting on future food
security in Melbourne,
Australia.
Background Info:
– Links between land use
planning and food security
– Food related economic
activity in Victoria
– Food security
– Melbourne’s UGB

3. Rural Impacts
– Reduces certainty for farmers
to re-invest in their land and
plan for the future (Buxton, 2006)
– Encourages land speculation
– Increased land rates and
values (Egan, 2009)
What can Planning do?
– Enforce permanent UGB’s to
ensure certainty and reinstate
shorter supply chains
Eg. Oregon, USA (Burke, 2008)

4. Urban Impacts
– Increased food prices (Larsen, 2008)
– Loss of local industry,
employment and access to
locally produced food (Burns, 2009)
– Casey-Cardinia growth area
What can Planning do?
– Protect prime agricultural land
from urban development to
maintain a local supply (Burns, 2009)

5. The other side:
State Government and
affordable housing (Dowling, 2010)
– Short-sighted approach
– Does not consider vulnerability
to changes in utility, fuel and
food costs (Burns, 2009)
– Increasing density along
transport corridors would
save society $300 million
per 1,000 housing units
(City of Melbourne, 2009)

6. Conclusions
– Challenge: next doubling of
food production to come
from increased productivity
on the same land base
– Research and technology
development is essential
– Productive agricultrual land
should be treated as a
strategic resource, and not
converted into housing.
– Food is now a core agenda
item, and Melbourne needs
to stop increasing the UGB
in order to achieve future
food security.