Next month East Gippsland Shire Council is set to adopt its draft Rural Land Use Strategy (RLUS) which has been open to public discussion.
The strategy is the first of its kind for the Shire and will enable the East Gippsland Planning Scheme to be reviewed and updated to  consider and respond to rural land use issues and opportunities.
Under the draft policy, landowners would be required to own 80 hectares of rural land in order to build a house.
At the moment rural landowners are permitted to build properties on 40 hectares but that would change under the shire’s new strategy for rural land use. 
While the shire argues the RLUS is expected to provide strategic direction and long term planning for rural land use/development and appropriate sustainable economic development of land, others aren’t convinced.
At last week’s council meeting, Bairnsdale resident, Joanne Eastman, addressed the council chamber with her concerns, asking “why are we only looking at what one or two horticulturalists want?”

IMAGE: Next month East Gippsland Shire Council is set to adopt a Rural Land Use Strategy. INSET: Local resident, Joanne Eastman, has voiced concerns about the strategy