The small rural town of Simpson is fast becoming a theatre for one south-west shire's battle with the forestry industry.
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It comes after Midway lodged an application for a two-lot subdivision of the 109.33 hectare property owned by Otway Silva at 329 Centre Road with Corangamite Shire Council.
Doing so would excise the former dwelling and shedding along the south of the property, maximising cleared land for logging.
Midway is managing a $200 million land acquisition program on behalf of MEAG, a subsidiary of the German-based fund manager Munich Re, which holds all equity shares in Otway Silva.
As of September 2023 the program had acquired about a dozen properties across the shire since the project started in October 2022, most of which were cattle and sheep grazing properties. Some were dairy farming operations.
Corangamite Shire south central ward councillor Jo Beard has previously expressed her concern that more timber plantations on prime farm land was putting the viability of small towns including Simpson at risk.
"Simpson is a lot like Cobden - it's on a small scale and they're a rural community which has always relied upon being a service provider to their local farmers," she said.
"They're having families leaving the region, young kids, because farms - and it's not the farms' fault, the opportunity comes along and they sell to a sure buyer which is the plantation businesses out there - but all of a sudden we start losing population, we lose our young kids, we start losing our ability to have a school in a small rural setting.
"That really scares me and this is why this piece of work is really important for us to get the right balance as council as to what we want our council to be doing going forward."
But the planning application notes the potential for the council to not grant a permit for its subdivision would "defy logic".
"Given the current housing crisis experienced across the country and the well-documented decline in rural communities, it would defy logic," it states.
"This dwelling is too good to be allowed to fall into disrepair or to just be demolished as would be the alternatives.
"...The potential loss of the dwelling, should council choose not to support the application, contributes to the further reduction in rural population, making it harder for Simpson Primary School and the various sporting bodies and community groups to remain viable."
