Last week AFSA made a submission to the Hepburn Shire Council to defend residents’ rights to forage, collect firewood, have more than 20 chooks, and salvage materials from the tip and roadside without need for a permit.

We were concerned that these laws originated from overzealous risk management policies rather than residents’ interests. Further, they were proposed without transparent community consultation, and would hinder sustainable public use of public goods.

You can see the full submission here.

Local council laws have significant potential to facilitate or limit democratic community control of local food systems and common resources, so it’s important to speak up to make sure councils get it right!

If your council is doing good things, or you’d like to see them do things differently – let us know over at the Ideal Councils Survey so we can tell councils what our members want to see to improve food sovereignty support in local regulations.