Guiding small landowners

THE Corangamite Catchment Management Authority has launched and quick and easy guide for landholders in the region to creative productive and sustainable properties.

The Small Blocks Big Dreams Healthy Hectares Guide is designed to assist small-scale producers, bush block owners and those managing properties for horses and livestock.

The A5 guide is glove-box friendly and full of practical tips and local contacts including information on soils, water, biodiversity, pests, and pastures.

“The Corangamite region stretches from Ballarat to Geelong and along the coast to Peterborough in the west of Victoria and is one of Australia’s fastest growing regions,” said Corangamite CMA Sustainable Agriculture Facilitator, Karen O’Keefe.

“With so many tree-changers new to the area, we want to empower small property owners to care for the biodiversity and health of their land and water – to teach them to farm more sustainably and think strategically.”

The guide is a legacy document from the Small Blocks Big Dreams program which helped landowners better care for their properties.

“Coming from the city, having just recently bought 80 acres and being a novice at everything, this is just empowering for us,” said participant Vicky Bosnar.

“The whole program has been so beneficial – we have learnt so much, I didn’t want it to stop.

“When you’ve come from the city to the country you feel a bit overwhelmed that you don’t have any machinery, you have no knowledge, and you’re looking around for who can help you, and Small Blocks Big Dreams has been absolutely fantastic to assist with this.”

All small landholders in the area can access a complimentary hard copy through their local Landcare network or digitally on the authority’s website.