the region
MAKE A COMMENT
population, economy and forces shaping the region
4.1 history and people
Aborigines occupied the Region for thousands of years, locating major camps close to coasts, rivers and lakes. The traditional boundaries of the Wathaurong peoples start along the coastline from Werribee to the Lorne Peninsula area. It traverses inland to Colac, through to Cressy onwards to Ballarat. Within these boundaries there were approximately 14 clan groups who were traditional owners of their particular ancestral site. Smaller clan groups were connected to these dominant groups through marriages. The Wathaurong traditional language covered most of the CCMA Region.
Other smaller language groups, the Gadubanud, Gulidjan/ Kirrae wurrung and the Djargurd wurrung are now the responsibility of the Framlingham Aboriginal Trust.
The Corangamite Region was among the first regions of European settlement in Victoria. The open plains of lush grasslands attracted settlers who moved rapidly inland from Geelong and Portland to establish grazing runs. The tall forests of the Otways attracted timber cutters in search of resources to establish the rapidly growing cities and towns of the colony. The gold rush of the mid 19th century promoted very rapid population growth around Ballarat. By the start of the 20th century, subdivision of the original grazing runs saw the establishment of more intensive agricultural industries such as dairying and cropping.
Agricultural development and Ballarat's mining industry provided the basis for the Region's economic development. However, it was not without it's costs. Pasture improvement and cropping caused the destruction of the Region's extensive native grasslands. Mining placed voracious demands on the forests around Ballarat. By the end of the 19th century most of the original forests were either cleared or heavily disturbed. Native flora and fauna suffered the direct impacts of closer settlement or retreated to highly vulnerable remnants of less disturbed native vegetation.
Settlers introduced weeds such as ragwort, gorse, and blackberry. They also brought rabbits, foxes, hares, deer, European carp and perch, sparrows and sky larks. These species remain pests today.
During the first half of twentieth century advances in agricultural science, and particularly the advent of superphosphate, led to a change of land use to intensive grazing systems. But closer settlement policies increased the farming population beyond sustainable levels. The Great Depression had a disastrous impact on agricultural output, leading to the collapse of many uneconomic farms, extensive land degradation brought about by attempts to respond to falling prices, and eventually large-scale migration to the larger regional centres and Melbourne. This left many of the smaller towns of the central plain de-populated and economically weak.
The second half of the twentieth century witnessed re-construction and productivity growth. Ballarat and Geelong both prospered with the development of new manufacturing industries, and large numbers of new immigrants arrived initially from European countries then increasingly from Asia and the Pacific. Agriculture benefited from growing international markets and new agricultural methods including subterranean clover pastures, fertilisers and pesticides. Coastal towns thrived on the expansion of the Victorian economy and the demands for recreation and tourism
4.2 population
The population of the Region was 324,700 in 2001, of which there were 2,362 people of indigenous origin living in the Region. As is shown in Table 1, Population trends 1996-2001, significant shifts have been occurring in the size and spatial distribution of the Region's population. Areas of strong growth have been the Ballarat to Greater Geelong corridor, and south to the coast, whilst the northern parts of Colac-Otway and Corangamite Shires have been suffering significant population decline.
4.3 economy
4.3.1 employment
The economy of the Region is diverse and relatively prosperous. Table 2 - Employment data for the corangamite region in 2001 presents employment data for the Corangamite Region in 2001. Employment in the Region is dominated by the manufacturing industry and the service sector, as reflected in Geelong, Ballarat and other principal towns. The tourist industry is also a strength in the Region.
Conversely, the traditional sectors in the Region, agriculture and forestry, employed only five per cent of the Region's workforce in 2001. It is estimated that an additional 1,500 jobs in meat and milk processing were directly associated with primary production in the Region.
Geelong's secondary industry is based on automotive manufacturing, mineral and petroleum processing, chemical production, textiles manufacturing and food processing. It is a major port, being amongst the ten most important in Australia. The city's economy is linked with Melbourne's, and transport facilities between the two centres are excellent. The City of Greater Geelong through its economic strategy, is encouraging investment and employment growth in the area.
Ballarat has a mixed economy based on a large number of medium and small secondary and tertiary businesses. Food processing, machinery, textile, footwear and clothing manufacturing and mineral processing are important activities. The city's economy is linked with Melbourne, with excellent road and rail facilities between them. The City of Ballarat is promoting further development of the city's economy.
Annex E, Trends in the economy, gives a detailed picture of trends in the Region's economy since 1994.
4.3.2 agriculture
Agriculture dominates the Region's land use pattern. Annex F, Agricultural Trends in the Corangamite Region, gives detailed data on agricultural production.
After more than a decade of depressed trading conditions for its agricultural products, both international and domestic markets recovered in the 1980s and 1990s. The dairy and beef industries are expanding output and intensifying their activities, particularly the dairy industry. Recently, cereal and sheep producers have also experienced some recovery, though there remains a serious challenge of uneconomic farm size, declining country towns and an ageing farm population in some of the central and northern farming districts. There is growth in the intensive rural industry sector in the eastern part of the Region around Geelong.
Corangamite's Value of Agricultural Commodity Production (VACP)[8] totalled almost $770 million in 1998/99, representing approximately 12 per cent of total VACP for Victoria[9]. Corangamite's VACP has been steadily increasing from $650 million in 1996/97 after dropping $50 million between 1995/96 and 1996/97 as shown in Figure 2 - VACP for major commodity groups, 1995/96 to 1998/99.
Over half (57%) of Corangamite's VACP is derived from livestock products, with dairy and wool accounting for 49 per cent. Livestock slaughtering accounts for 27 per cent of total VACP and crops 21 per cent. In a Statewide context, the Corangamite Region produces approximately 19 per cent of Victoria's livestock products VACP, 12 per cent of the State's VACP from livestock slaughters and six per cent of Victoria's crop-derived VACP[10].
The area of land utilised for agricultural activity in the Corangamite Region has been increasing: from 833,611 ha in 1991 to 851,507 ha in 1996. Colac-Otway South and Moorabool West have shown the most significant increases in the area of land utilised for agricultural activity.
Land values for dryland agriculture are high in the Corangamite Region and are being influenced by the proximity to urban centres. Median prices in excess of $4,000/ ha are found in the Ballarat to Geelong corridor, including Golden Plains Shire, and along the coast. In the rapidly growing Golden Plains Shire, broad-acre land prices are between 50 and 100 per cent higher than similar land in more remote locations in the Corangamite and Colac-Otway Shires. The additional value attached by the market to land located close to major population centres impacts on the ability of farming businesses to expand through land purchase, and will tend to intensify agricultural expansion towards the west of the Region and beyond.
4.3.3 forestry
Forest industries have expanded output (including sawlogs and woodchips), primarily from pine plantations, but also from eucalypt plantations and native forest. There is currently a substantial investment in plantations for pulpwood. Studies undertaken as a part of the West Victoria Regional Forest Agreement indicate that a large part of the Corangamite Region (approximately 35%) is moderately suitable for pine plantations, whilst small, scattered sections in the southern region are highly suitable. Through recent State government policy change, hardwood logging in State forests will cease in the Otways by 2008.
4.3.4 marine activities
The Region supports a number of important marine industries. In addition to the Port of Geelong, which provides a major outlet for the Region's exports as well as a fishing port, other ports in the Region, including Lorne, Apollo Bay and Port Campbell are also important to commercial fishing activities that take place in the rivers, inlets and the ocean. Aquaculture, in the form of mussel and shore based abalone farms, is becoming an important industry in the Region.
4.3.5 tourism
Increases in development, improved infrastructure and access to the Region have resulted in increases in recreation and tourism focused on the coast. Tourism is a mainstay of the coastal towns and is experiencing high rates of growth in visitors from other parts of Victoria, the rest of Australia and from overseas. The Corangamite Region offers a diverse range of attractions, from popular surf and protected beaches to diverse hinterlands in scenic and rural forested environments. Activities include many water sports such as boating, surfing and diving. The Region is also popular amongst recreational anglers in both freshwater and marine environments.
There were 2.7 million overnight trips and 6.7 million visitor nights for selected localities in the Corangamite Region in 2000. The greatest number of overnight trips occurred in Ballarat, Geelong and along the surf coast (Demographics and characteristics of the Corangamite people (URS and AgInsight from ABS Census data), 2002).
The value of tourism in the Great Ocean Road tourist region is estimated to be $940 million (Great Ocean Road Region: Towards a vision for the future, 2001). In 1996, tourism in the towns and rural areas along the Great Ocean Road provided 14.7 per cent of the total employment. In 1998, this Region attracted 2.7 million overnight visitors and 5.4 million day visitors (Demographics and characteristics of the Corangamite people (URS and AgInsight from ABS Census data), 2002).
Inland, the major attraction is 'Sovereign Hill' at Ballarat, with 1.2 million day visitors. Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula including Queenscliff is also an important destination with 2.4 million day visits in 2000. The surf coast is the gateway to the Great Ocean Road and is a significant destination for international and domestic visitors and accommodates weekend visitors who regularly stay in their holiday houses, of which the majority are located in the coastal areas (Demographics and characteristics of the Corangamite people (URS and AgInsight from ABS Census data), 2002.
4.4 forces shaping the region
4.4.1 urban migration[11]
People from the city are moving to Ballarat and Geelong and their environs for cheaper residential land and more space, and they are moving to the highlands, coast and Otways for permanent lifestylers, weekenders and retirement. The attraction of the Region will rise as Melbourne land values increase and as road and rail links improve. At the growth rates experienced between 1996 and 2001, the population could increase by over 70,000 in the next 20 years. More recent data from municipalities suggest that the increase could be larger than this.
Migration to current rural areas will change the character of communities, bringing in people with little experience of managing rural land, but with high expectations of their rural lifestyle. Growth of smaller lots will make biodiversity and waterway protection more complex and present a new challenge to Landcare and other local environmental groups. Land use planning decisions by local government will pose significant challenges for catchment health. Increased residential and visitor populations along the coastal fringe has the potential to increase the rate of environmental damage.
4.4.2 intensification of economic activity
Agriculture is intensifying in all industries: dairying, where output is set to double by 2010[12]; cropping and grazing systems; intensive animal industries, with egg producers, poultry and piggeries seeking to relocate as urban areas displace them; and in horticulture and viticulture. Forestry plantations are extending further south of the Princes Highway into the foothills of the Otways and north of the Basalt Plain in the highlands.
Extractive industries (limestone, basalt, sand and gravel) are growing in response to population growth. There is an active program of gas and oil exploration and extraction in the Otway Basin, and new proposals for power generation. There has also been an interest in a renewal of gold mining activity near Ballarat.
Aquaculture is developing along the coast, and will require careful management.
Intensification will mean more competition for limited water and land, more pressure for environmental management systems for all enterprises, more conflict between industries and adjacent residential owners, and more pressure on the road network.
Annex E, Trends in the Economy, gives a detailed picture of trends in the Region's economy since 1994.
4.4.3 growth of tourism
Tourism is a dominant economic force in the Otways, and on the coast, and is a major business in and around Ballarat. Growth will continue. Local government in the Region estimates the annual growth in visitor numbers to be 15 per cent per annum. International visitation to the area was 75,000 in 1991, 140,000 in 2000 and is predicted to be 250,000 in 2010. In the Otways, visitation is forecast to double between 2000 and 2010, with a possible six-fold increase over the next 30 years. Higher density development on the coast is almost inevitable. Pressure on parks, estuaries and lakes will grow, whilst agricultural and forestry land uses, which do not fit tourist expectations of a "rural landscape", will be challenged. Accommodation will spread from the coast through the Otways foothills. Residents in coastal areas will be displaced by high priced accommodation changing the character of towns, however, there will be more employment, especially more part-time employment.
4.4.4 competition for water
Demands for water supply for Geelong and Ballarat will continue to grow, as will the needs of agriculture. The need for environmental flows will set an upper limit on extraction for economic uses, and reduced summer flows will increase pressure on winter use of flows. The gap between demand and supply will have to be met by reducing urban demand[13], reusing water, reducing loss in the handling of water or by tapping new sources of supply. There will be increased debate within the Region between different agricultural users, between rural users, and flows needed for the environment, recreation and public water supply. Groundwater flows will receive more attention, particularly the impact of extraction from lakes and wetlands for stock and domestic supply.
4.4.5 stronger environmental ethic
The environment will continue to be a high profile concern in the community. Over the next 20 years, there will be progressively more understanding of how the environment works, more participation in local action to conserve and repair the environment, and long term and integrated planning for the environment. Anxiety amongst voters about environmental catastrophe may push governments to react with excessive or piecemeal controls. Alternatively, what may develop is a mix of strong policy direction, sustainable enterprise practices, and citizens who take responsibility for the impacts of their consumption.
4.4.6 greater complexity for communities
The complexity of natural resource management, of running a business, of governance and of being a citizen are all increasing. As policies and regulation increase, it is harder for the community and government agencies to know what is required of them and who is responsible for what, within and between each level of government. There is more consultation, more papers to be read, more choices. This places great demands on volunteer-based community groups who want to contribute to planning decisions, and also take on-ground action.
4.4.7 implications for the regional catchment strategy
Forces shaping the Region over the next 20 years provide a context for setting Goals and Priorities. For the Corangamite Region, natural resource management is wider than simply managing impacts on the environment. The Goals address the production and consumption activity of all people in the Region, the decision making processes through which society weighs up the competing claims of different users, and the innovation that can improve resource use efficiency whilst reducing environmental impact.
The forces also provide a context for setting Priorities. Threats posed by changes in land use and poor planning processes need attention, and present major opportunities for improving natural resource management processes.
