Growers' tractor protest tries to squeeze homes out of wine land

There was a tractor protest against a housing development at McLaren Vale yesterday and full-page advertisements against a proposed highway bypass in the Coonawarra appeared in weekend newspapers.

Winemakers are up in arms over the proposed developments, saying they will swallow valuable land for growing vines and could damage tourism in the area. Yesterday a convoy of about 150 tractors and cars travelled through McLaren Vale, about 40km south of the centre of Adelaide, protesting against plans to build 1170 homes on 77ha of land on the edge of the world-renowned wine region.

Chalk Hill winemaker Jock Harvey said a recent geological survey found the land was on "some of the most spectacular geology for viticulture in the world".He also said the development site at Seaford Heights was a gateway to an area with economic and tourism value estimated at $940 million a year.

"And that's put in jeopardy by taking what is the last green buffer between suburbia and the McLaren Vale wine region and covering it with housing," he said.

Protest organiser Laura Jackson, who works in the wine industry and lives in McLaren Vale, said there was no need for more housing in the area. "We've got investment properties lying empty and people won't rent them," she said.

Mr Harvey said Planning Minister Paul Holloway could rezone the land to rural "if he wants", and called for a moratorium on the development until a development plan for the region was finalised.

But Mr Holloway said the fate of Seaford Heights was sealed 20 years ago when it was earmarked for development.

"Even if the decision had not been made 20 years ago to zone this land residential, it would still be very difficult to justify agricultural activities on that particular 77ha, given that it is adjacent to existing housing," he said.

"The long-held expectation that this land would be developed for housing also informed the decision to invest $291m on extending the Noarlunga rail line to Seaford."

Meanwhile Treasury Wine Estates, part of the Foster's Group, has published advertisements about a proposed highway bypass through the Coonawarra wine district, in the state's southeast, famed for its cabernet sauvignons.