Safeguarding farming futures through rural land development

Estate planning is often a complex issue for farming families. Transferring control and management of the farm from one generation to the next can be difficult when family members have different aspirations for the land.

Our client’s family farm is on the south coast of Banks Peninsula; a stunningly remote location with magnificent sea views and pockets of native bush and natural streams. The project represented an opportunity to solve the family’s estate planning needs by realising some of the equity in the property. The vision was to create a large piece of land complete with existing homestead that would be sold to settle the estate with family members while the rest of the land was retained as a working farm.

Critical to the success of the project was preservation of the rural character of the land as well as a clear understanding of the planning process to minimise costs and delays for the family. Adding to the challenge was that the farm had not been surveyed since the 1880s. In fact, the very first survey pegs (some over 130 years old) had not been touched since they were first set in.

Our approach was a tailored solution that charted a pathway through the planning process and red tape. By looking at the balance of the land as a whole, we undertook an extensive rural land survey to create a large marketable piece of land that met all planning rules yet retained the bulk of the farmland so the farm could continue as a viable working operation.

As good things take time, the project is still on-going with work in 2016 involving taking the development through to two new and separate titles. As land development and land planning specialists, we love these types of projects. By helping this farming family unlock the potential of their farmland; we’ve safeguarded the farm for future generations, and resolved their estate planning issues.

Fox and Associates Team: Craig (Project Manager), Adam, Fraser and Michelle