As Greater Shepparton City councillors enter what could be the final week of deliberations on the growth plan, the orchardists got together to share the human side of the planning debate.
Their land is currently protected under the planning scheme as productive agricultural land and there seems no appetite for change despite submissions and consultation.
While all of the orchardists would likely benefit financially from rezoning, they see it as the only way to end decades on the land with dignity and financial security.
The family names — Gribben, Mladenov, Davies, Poulos, Dimit and Rullo — have been part of the backbone of Goulburn Valley horticulture for generations.
Chris Dimit has worked on his family orchard since the 1950s, watching suburbia get ever closer.
Housing estates and industry are now on the boundary of his property.
Spraying, or more particularly avoiding chemical over-spray on to houses, has made operating challenging.
Scare guns are an annoyance for neighbours, but without them Mr Dimit says he can’t control the birds that fly in from the housing estates to wreck his fruit.
“It is getting harder and harder,” he said of running his orchard.
A key report commissioned by the council suggested the small blocks could transition to niche farming at a cost of $1 million to $2 million/hectare.
Cosi Rullo, the youngest of the group, tried to diversify.
“We applied for a piggery but got knocked back because we were too close to town,” he said.
Most of the farmers are at the end of their working lives and have no family prepared to take over.
Bill Gribben is retired, Ron Davies is past retirement and ready to give up farming, Jeff Mladenov has had two back operations and finds it a struggle to keep his father Boris’ orchard running.
“We are at the end of our working lives, but even so, there is no future because our properties are too small,” another orchardist, John Poulos, said.
The small blocks were established to coincide with irrigation. They were also within easy reach of the cannery by horse and cart.
Nowadays huge road trains rumble past, but the small orchards are still there, a remnant of the past that progress has passed by.
Modern orchards have scale with integrated packing sheds, cool stores and transport operations.
All agree there is little interest in their individual orchards as going concerns, and even combined as one larger operation, the encroachment of housing and businesses would make it unattractive.
“There is plenty of land for orchards, but it is further out and bigger scale, it is already happening; there isn’t much land here, bugger all, and it isn’t productive,” Mr Gribben said.
Mr Poulos said protecting this cluster of small blocks ignored changes in horticultural production.
“Why are we looking 30 years ahead (with the growth plan) when I can’t look 10 years ahead,” he said.
“There is no future for us, the bulldozers will come in and it will just be dry land.”
Mr Davies said he'd already pushed trees over and would keep doing so until it was bare land.
“I don't see a future, I've got houses right beside me, I don't expect it to be developed overnight but the council needs to rezone it.
“I don't think they are going to change their mind.”
