Table grape growers in Western Australia's Swan Valley have warned that the region's $430 million tourism industry will lose its backdrop without support for local viticulture.
Key points:
- Viticulturalists say their industry in the Swan Valley is shrinking
- They warn the thriving Swan Valley tourism industry will lose its backdrop of vines
- Growers are urging the WA Government to realise the entire value of a grapevine and act on it
The table grape producers' committee chair of the Agricultural Produce Commission, Tony Kundid, said tourism in the region is hinged upon visitors enjoying rural scenery of rolling grape vines, close to the city.
However, he said the amount of land under vine in the valley was shrinking, from 4,000 hectares in 1995 to now around 1,000 hectares.
He said grape plantings were moving further out from the city to larger and more affordable plots of land.
"The future for growing grapes in the Swan Valley is probably significantly diminished because of the demographic of growers, most of us are reaching or close to reaching retirement age," he said.
"What we will end up doing is pulling out our vines and leaving the land fallow.
"Then there's no greenery, which ultimately will mean that people won't visit the Swan Valley."
Total value of a vine must be realised
Mr Kundid said the total value of a grape vine needed to be recognised and growers, and their families, needed to be given incentives to keep their vines in the ground.
"The City of Swan published the revenue in 2019 from tourism in the Swan Valley, which was $430 million," he said.
"Last season [for] Swan Valley table grapes, the value was between $15 to $20 million.
It is a call backed by Grape Growers Association of WA president and Swan Valley grower Kevin Peterson.
"[Tourists] enjoy a lovely green outlook and enjoy the Swan Valley, but at the same time somebody has got to be nursing and tending to those grape vines that are being grown in the valley," he said.
Mr Peterson said growers also needed secure and affordable access to water.
"The use of water is governed by the water authority who licence our bores," he said.
"They are talking not only to viticulturalists, but to all horticulturalists, that they're going to cut back allocations of water by 10 per cent by 2026.
"That's putting pressure on growers to meet those demands."
Whole-of-government approach needed
Both growers called for a whole-of-government approach to planning the future of the Swan Valley.
They said the Swan Valley Planning Bill, which passed Parliament at the beginning of the month, did little to protect their industry.
Instead, it created an unfair difference in land values where land deemed 'priority agriculture' could not be subdivided.
Mr Kundid said table grape producers need to be represented on the Swan Valley Statutory Planning Committee and the Swan Valley Strategic Leadership Group — two groups which will form next year as a result of the Swan Valley Planning Bill.
Questions to the office of Planning Minister Rita Saffioti were directed to the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (DPLH), which said it could not comment on viticulture and tourism matters.
"A new scheme will prioritise rural, viticulture, and horticultural use, and discourage subdivision of rural land," the DPLH statement said.
"However, the current draft scheme includes provisions that can accommodate continuity of grape growing businesses and other rural uses while also providing for some subdivision to allow long-term residents to remain on their land while divesting part of their landholdings."
Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan has been contacted for comment.
The Link LonkDecember 11, 2020 at 11:48AM
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Grape growers warn the $430 million Swan Valley tourism industry's at risk of losing its backdrop - ABC News
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