2016-06-07 - P&E Agenda - Item 5, Attachment 1 - Agriculture and Agricultural Land Study

       Class A2 = Land that is suitable for a wide range of current and potential horticultural crops
       only, with limitations to production that range from none to moderate levels.

Class B = Limited crop land - Land that is suitable for a narrow range of current and potential
crops. Land that is marginal for current and potential crops due to severe limitations but is highly
suitable for pastures. Land may be suitable for cropping with engineering and/or agronomic
improvements.

Class C = Pasture land - Land that is suitable only for improved or native pastures due to
limitations which preclude continuous cultivation for crop production. Some areas may tolerate a
short period of ground disturbance for pasture establishment

       Class C1 = Suitable for grazing sown pastures (with ground disturbance for establishment)
       or has native pastures on higher fertility soils

       Class C2 = Suitable for grazing native pastures with or without the introduction of pasture
       species - not suitable for ground disturbance to establish pastures

       Class C3 = Suitable for light grazing of native pastures in accessible areas, and includes
       steep land more suited to forestry or catchment protection

Class D = Non-agricultural land - Land not suitable for agricultural uses due to extreme limitations.
This may be: undisturbed land with significant conservation and/or catchment values; land that
may be unsuitable because of very steep slopes, shallow soils, rock outcrop, poor drainage,
salinity, acidic drainage; or is an urbanised area.

Having consideration to the classification and to land suitability, land is considered either good-
quality agricultural land (GQAL) or not. GQAL is capable of sustainable agricultural use without
causing land degradation or degradation to other natural resources. Land may also be considered
versatile cropping land where land is suitable for 4 or more crops (based on the combination of
crop requirements and the physical limitations of the soil type).

The 2013 State Planning Policy states that ALC Class A and Class B land requires protection in a
Planning Scheme. However the State Interest Guidelines specify that Local governments must
ensure that the mapped areas of Class A and Class B land accurately reflect the role and
importance of agriculture in the local area. A locally appropriate methodology to verify the location
of soils important for agriculture in a local area could result in either greater or lesser area of land
identified in an 'agricultural land' overlay or similar.

Queensland Department of Natural Resources & Mines has advised that there is a considerable
gap in the soil data for Noosa Shire and they have provided their latest agricultural land data from
November 2014. Map 6 shows the agricultural land classes A to C. A significant amount of Noosa
Shire is Class D, non-agricultural land. The largest concentration of A1 and A2 soils is centred
around Cootharaba, extending from the west of Lake Cootharaba through to the foothills near Kin
Kin and south to Ringtail Creek. This area is much poorer for grazing with better pastures being in
the western portion of the Shire.

There is little chance that there will be a completion of the State data in the short term before the
Noosa Planning Scheme review.




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