hi, I’ve been thinking about purchasing acreage with a view to enjoying the lifestyle as well as it providing a reasonable income stream as well as a hobby/pastime when I retire. I like the idea of multiple income streams, eco cabins, youcamp, wedding venue (e.g rustic wool shed), aquaponics, as well as perhaps some more traditional farming such as running a few sheep/cattle and/or berries and fruit. Does anyone have any experience in this sort of thing? Please feel free to direct me elsewhere. Cheers
OK. I've no experience with commercial activity in rural areas in Tas. All of what we have done has been in Vic. Victorias planning provisions in "farming zones" for any activity unrelated to agriculture are reasonably prohibitive. Theres some situations where local policy calls for more accommodation in strategically placed locations within the farming zone but generally commercial activity has to be tied to an agricultural pursuit on the land. i.e. a restaurant thats utilising produce grown substantially on the land or a cellar door showcasing wines that are grown on the land etc. Not sure how much of that will be relevant for you in Tas. A Town planner may be able to assist you better with quick red flag - green flag type analysis of proposed activities
Hi Andrew ... we've had experience with small holdings, with both commercial crops and tourist accommodation. Your enquiry is not easy to answer. As James mentioned, you can't just buy a block of land and start doing whatever you want. There will be council restrictions and regulations. If you're simply planting a crop - tomatoes or garlic or artichokes or whatever then no major problems unless your considering using chemical sprays and then you'd have to be aware of drift etc. If you're wanting intensive agriculture - like yabbies or grapes or snails - then you'd possibly have to apply for a development application (which can always get passed or knocked back). If you're wanting to do tourist accommodation or wedding venue etc, you'll have to check with the council as to whether you can build any other structures on your land (if not inhouse bnb) - as there will be a maximum limit depending on your zoning. And that limit may be one dwelling. You may, or may not, be permitted to run a commercial operation on the property (ie wedding venue, accommodation). It all depends on the individual council and the neighbours - and don't take past development as a rule of thumb. Our council recently increased the minimum lot size from 20acres to 100acres ... so no more lifestyle block development ... and our neighbouring block has 6 tourist accommodation dwellings on it, yet we're not allowed to build anything but one primary dwelling (same size block). Other neighbour even had to remove their portable mobile home/shed before they were allowed to build their actual house. As for size - land is more work than you realise. We downsized from 27 acres to 12 acres because it was too much. One the flip side, 1-2 acres is to small to do anything and a pain in the butt
Thanks guys, I’ll dig into some of the zoning restrictions. I get what you mean about more land being more work. Ideally I’d have 10-20 acres of usable land as part of a larger block, just because I like the idea! I guess I need to start forming up more of a plan and start working through the viability. Cheers