Region. Call to save urban agriculture

President of the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils Ltd (WSROC), Clr Alison McLaren, has urged the federal government to work with councils and the people of Western Sydney to secure the future of urban agriculture in the Sydney Basin. "The federal government needs to realise that agriculture is not just the domain of rural areas. The failure to take seriously the need for long term agricultural land in the Sydney Basin will have disastrous consequences for our food supply,” Clr McLaren said. WSROC said there would be a significant impact on employment – currently there are over 6000 jobs in the sector in Western Sydney – and on the sustainability of ethnic communities which have coalesced around the market garden industries.