Proposed LEP change to allow artisan food and drink industry welcomed by producers

Wagga City Council is currently seeking community feedback on an amendment which would rezone several key areas including primary production and rural zones to allow artisan food and drink industry.

The new zone would enable the sale of boutique, craft or artisan food and drink products on the site they are made. The change would mainly target primary producers - farmers who would be able to sell their own produce on-site through a retail space, cafe or restaurant or to host tours and tastings.

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Bidgee Strawberries and Creams is one of few artisan food and drink sites currently in the city, and owner Kylie Cashen welcomed the change.

"We're all for the whole idea," she said. "For us it was really difficult to set up Bidgee Strawberries and Cream, we had to jump through a phenomenal amount of hoops and this level of difficulty is impacting significantly and severely on local producers ability to do some really good things here in Wagga."

Council's senior strategic planner Crystal Atkinson said until recently artisan food and drink industry was not included in planning definitions and if added to the zoning would allow producers like Mrs Cashen to more easily set up shop.

"[Under the change] if you're having produce manufactured or grown on the farm, then there's an ability for the farmer to sell it either through a retail floor space somewhere on their farm, or they can have a restaurant of cafe selling some of that produce or they could hold say tastings or tours or workshops about that particular produce," she said. "We're getting quite a lot of enquiries about people wanting to set up things like this but we just haven't had the ability for them to be able to lodge an application and get approved and this will allow that."

Mrs Cashen said more businesses following their model would be a win for everyone.

"If they made it easier for some of our local farmers to use their farm as a tourism opportunity it would be very beneficial for our business as well," she said. "If there were other businesses involved we could advertise a food trail for visitors."

She said in her experience, running an artisan food and drink business allows producers to offer more to customers and secure their own income.

"Being able to value-add your produce by making jam or ice cream and selling that on site creates a really important income stream and it gives more reason for people to visit," she said.

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